


Into the Void

by 1JettaPug, orphan_account



Category: KISS (US Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Comic Lore, Dark, Drug Use, First Kiss, First Time, Four Who Are One, Frottage, Grinding, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Intercrural Sex, M/M, Sex, Showers, Talismans, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 19:27:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20783873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1JettaPug/pseuds/1JettaPug, https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Eric is new to the world of sex, drugs, and rock & roll, but is still struggling to really fit in with his new bandmates. But one night after a concert, things take a dangerous turn and Eric realizes that this wild group of musicians are no ordinary band...





	Into the Void

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a massive undertaking and I'm incredibly excited to share it with you all. To my Ashenka, thank you so much for helping me write this and edit it and stick with me through this monster of a fic, it's going to be a wild adventure.

When Eric had originally joined KISS, he’d expected things to be more out of the ordinary than not. The rock star life wasn’t normal in any sense of the word, but in the weeks following Eric’s welcome into the world of rock, not only were things unusual, they were downright _ weird _.

The audition and subsequent tour through Oceana had started off well, the music was great, the fans were great, Eric was feeling great… everything was amazing, if just a little difficult to adjust to. But, one evening after a show, Eric had been slowly removing his fox makeup when he caught sight of Ace rifling through a box in the corner of the room. Of course, his first thought was that Ace was looking for something to get fucked up off of, but as he watched the Spaceman in the mirror, he saw Ace pull something that was _ not _drugs or a bottle of booze. Instead, it was a little carving of something that looked like a lightning bolt.

“What’s that?” Eric asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible while wiping more black paint from his eyes.

“Wha- _ oh!” _Ace spun on his heels in surprise, “Hiya Foxy, how you doin’?”

“Almost done with makeup removal.” Eric shrugged with a grin, “Whatcha got there?”

“Oh just a little… trinket thingy.” Ace rocked back and forth on his heels, looking much too suspicious for Eric to be comfortable with, “I got it in Japan! ‘S a good luck charm!”

“It’s cool.” Eric hummed, grabbing a washcloth and wiping the rest of his face down, “What’re we doing tonight? Apart from raiding the Chicken Coop I mean.”

Ace snorted as he tucked the little carving into a pocket, “I think that’s about it. I’ve got some blow too if you wanna get totally fuckin’ snowblind, if you catch my drift.”

“Uh… n- no thanks Ace, not tonight.” Eric shook his head, actually looking forward to just crashing that night, “Maybe tomorrow?”

“Sounds good! See ya around Eric!” Ace chuckled before scampering away to god knows where.

Eric was left confused, but pushed those thoughts from his head as he slipped back into street clothes. He was too tired for anything else.

_______

Eric arrived at the hotel soon afterwards, carefully making his way to the room that was reserved for him. He passed Paul chatting up a gorgeous redhead and then Gene who had a set of blondes hanging on his arms. Eric was tempted to check out the Chicken Coop after seeing the ladies the others had picked up, but when he felt his head starting to throb with the beginnings of a headache, he decided against it. 

When he got to the door and into his room, Eric flopped down onto the bed and sighed. He definitely ached from the amount of work he’d been doing, but there was no feeling like the one he got when performing. After struggling with his music career for so long, to _ finally _ be playing his heart out and being recognized for it… Eric was on top of the world. A laugh escaped from him as he thought about the last few months of touring and playing and just living the _ life! _ It was _ amazing. _

As Eric was getting lost in his head, almost starting to drift off, a sharp knock jolted him awake. He sat up and stared at the door, not expecting anyone to head his way that night. With an annoyed groan, he quickly went to the door, looked through the peephole, and stared in confusion at the form of Ace swaying outside his door.

“Eeeeriiiiiiiic!” Ace sang, his face flushed and a massive smile stretched across his face.

_ ‘What’s he doing here?’ _Eric thought, furrowing his brow as he opened the door.

“Heeeey Foxy!” Ace slurred and stumbled into the room, “How ya doin’?”

“Same as I was a little while ago.” Eric shrugged, moving out of Ace’s wobbly path, “I thought you were going out for drinks?”

“I was, but I wanted to come hang out with our little Fox!” Ace giggled as he flung himself into a chair, head lolling to the side.

“Uh… okay?” Eric sighed as he sat on the bed next to Ace’s chair, “So whaddya wanna do?”

“Huh… What about booze?” Ace cackled as he lifted the beer bottle in his hand.

“Ace, you’re already trashed.” Eric chuckled and rolled his eyes as even sitting, Ace was swaying with the effects of alcohol consumption.

“But we can always get _ more _trashed!” Ace countered, jerking forwards and grabbing Eric by the shoulder, “C’moooon Eric, it’ll be fun!”

“Maybe not tonight Ace,” Eric swallowed as his head’s pounding started up again, “I’m not sure I-”

“What’s wrong?” Ace’s whole person seemed to shift, his eyes steeling with worry and the grip on Eric’s shoulder loosened.

“Uh-” Eric’s eyes widened as he tried to figure out how Ace suddenly seemed… coherent.

“Something’s bothering you.” Ace murmured softly, his eyes searching for something as they raked over Eric.

“My uh- my head.” Eric explained with a shrug, “Maybe I’m dehydrated or something but-”

“What kind of headache is it?” Ace furrowed his brow.

“I dunno? Pounding? Like something’s trying to like, I dunno, get out and-” Eric huffed in frustration as the feeling _ grew. _

Before he or Ace could utter another word, searing pain _ exploded _ behind Eric’s eyes and he doubled over. He nearly fell off the bed, but Ace caught him and repositioned him with much more ease than a drunk person should have been able to.

“Behind your eyes?” Ace asked softly.

Eric managed a little nod as he whimpered, clutching the sides of his head as the throbbing turned to vicious pounding.

_ “Shit.” _Ace hissed and Eric swore the guitarist’s eyes flashed blue.

However, before Eric could say anything more, the world went dark.

_____

Eric came to in a room that was not his hotel room and the ground beneath him was shaking. The pain in his head had subsided, but as he looked around, he was confused as _ hell. _He watched as three shapes outlined in blue, purple, and red respectively were darting towards a massive figure that looked to be covered in shadows. The ground tremorred as the red, glowing thing was thrown to the ground, but it launched back up and threw a ball of flame at the shadow thing. Eric stared in shock as the fight of sorts continued, watching the red figure throw fire, the blue figure shoot lightning, and the purple figure shoot beams of energy at their foe. 

Carefully, after a moment of watching, Eric tried to silently get up to sneak away, but found he was trapped in the room because there were no exits. Fear coursed through Eric as he looked around, seeing that the room _ wasn’t _ a room at all. Wherever he was, it was an empty space of sorts, there was no ground and yet he was on something like solid flooring, and as far as he could see the world seemed to be made of purple and black energy flowing like a river everywhere. Eric began to shake as he realized he wasn’t going to get anywhere without help and he turned back to the fight, only to jump out of the way as the blue figure crashed beside him. Eric scrambled away from the glowing being, but stared at it in awe. The blue glow seemed warm and he cocked his head as the thing began to move.

“Are you alright?” Eric asked as he slowly crawled closer to the being.

_ “Eric?” _

Eric froze as he stared into the silver eye designs he’d become familiar with and his jaw dropped. The blue, glowing being was _ Ace _which meant-

“Y- you- you have-” Eric stammered hoarsely, gawking at the crackling electricity that surrounded Ace’s hands.

“I’ll explain later, don’t move.” Ace told him before hovering off the ground and rocketing back towards the skirmish.

Eric stayed frozen as the fight continued before his eyes. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t look away, mesmerized yet horrified at the scene before him. He could hear his bandmates yelling at one another now, their voices making sense to Eric’s ears now that he _ knew _those voices belonged to his friends. He gasped in shock when he saw the purple figure, likely Paul, get smashed to the ground, but he didn’t get back up. Gene fared the same as the shadow figure grabbed him with a massive hand and threw him down near where Paul had landed. Ace was doing his best to hold off more attacks, but Eric could see how badly he was struggling. Suddenly, the shadow figure laughed, a dark, chilling sound that sent terror shaking through Eric’s bones.

_ “Foolish mortals, you cannot hope to defeat me with just three of the four.” _

Eric could do nothing but gaze in horror as Ace was easily thrown back over to him again, landing much more roughly than before. After a moment of not being able to move due to terror, Eric crawled to Ace’s side. The Spaceman groaned, shaking as he tried to pull himself up, but he collapsed when he tried to put weight on his hands.

“Ace?” Eric asked, his voice faltering as he tried to help Ace up.

“Gotta get- get you out-” Ace choked out, gritting his teeth as he glared at the shadow man.

_ “Come here little Celestial, don’t you want to protect your friends?” _The shadow thing cooed, a cruel smile stretched wide across its face as it began to stomp towards Ace and Eric.

“Don’t even th- think about it!” Ace hissed, trying to get up again, but was only able to yell in pain.

_ “You’re lucky my power is not at full capacity little Celestial,” _ the shadow thing hummed, _ “Besides, it’s no fun playing with you when you all fall so easily. It’s pathetic really.” _

Ace stumbled to his feet to face the shadow thing, stepping between it and Eric, but his body was off balance due to the beating he’d sustained.

“Don’t. Touch. Him.” Ace spat, hands crackling, but he swayed unsteadily and the electricity fizzled out.

_ “Oh you’re so threatening, I’m shaking in my boots!” _The shadow thing roared with laughter.

Eric watched Ace fall, his knees giving out, but the shadow figure merely stared and sighed.

_ “Next time I won’t go so easy on you and your friends.” _

Eric looked up in surprise and noticed Ace had done the same.

Before anything could happen again however, the world twisted, turned, and warped around them and soon Eric, Ace, Paul, and Gene all came crashing down in a hotel room.

Groans came from each of the men, but Eric shot up into a sitting position, looked around at the other three and screeched, 

_ “What the fuck?!?!” _

After Eric finished freaking out, which took a few minutes, the other three all shared a look and turned to Eric.

“So,” Paul started softly, “we’re uh… not your typical rock band as you’ve figured out.”

“No _shit.” _Eric scowled, “What _the fuck _was that?”

“That,” Gene sighed, “was a servant of The Destroyer.”

“The _ what?” _ Eric sputtered in confusion.

“It’s kinda like the incarnation of pure evil.” Ace explained and Eric watched in awe as figures exploded from Ace’s hands.

Shapes and colors swirled in the air around them all, showing battles and creatures that looked straight out of a nightmare. The shadow figure was at the center of the dancing hologram, in a more human form than the mass of shadows it’d been earlier.

“We call him the Dark One,” Paul continued, “He has no name that we’re aware of, so we just rolled with it.”

“What… what is he?” Eric asked as he examined the figure, “What _ is _all this?”

“The Dark One’s a sorcerer we think. Or a shadowmancer, it’s not clear because well…” Ace looked down, “We haven’t really _ beaten _him before. The others are well, other servants of the Destroyer.”

“What or who is The Destroyer?” Eric asked, looking up to Gene.

“Gone for now.” Gene nodded, “We fought him many times, we won the last time and managed to banish him from this plane of existence. He shouldn’t be able to fully reform for quite some time but…”

“We almost lost Peter that day.” Ace closed his eyes, holding his head in his hands, “He left because of it, his soul was almost trapped in the ethereal plane forever… and his connection to the talisman-”

“Wait,” Eric’s eyes widened, “The lightning bolt you have?”

Ace nodded, the little trinket materializing in his hand,

“These give us our powers, they chose us. When Peter’s soul was… it’s hard to explain, but he was separated from his body, but even when we fixed it…”

“He lost the connection to his talisman.” Gene sighed, “We forced him out to protect him.”

“He also wanted out, Gene.” Paul chimed in, “Don’t forget that, it was a decision made between _ all _of us.”

“... Then why am I here?” Eric asked timidly, staring at the three before him, their glowing eyes boring into his soul.

“We needed a drummer.” Paul smiled sheepishly, “We’re a band, and we need to keep that cover.”

“So… what’s our plan here?” Eric breathed out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, “Obviously you couldn’t take the Dark One out so-”

“You aren’t gonna leave?” Ace arched an eyebrow at him.

“Make no mistake, I’m still trying to wrap my head around this,” Eric laughed nervously, “but I _ like _being here. This is… it’s new and scary for sure, but I’m here to play drums and sing with you guys, I won’t give that up.”

Three sets of befuddled eyes stared at him for a moment before Gene gave a short laugh,

“Alright, but we’re going to need to set up a system to make sure you’re kept safe.”

“Uh, alright?” Eric pursed his lips, “Why?”

“Any of the followers of The Destroyer could pop up and attack at any time,” Paul pointed out, “Obviously Gene, Ace, and I can take care of ourselves for the most part, but you don’t have the power to protect yourself.”

“He needs a watcher, a guard.” Ace nodded, “I could do that.”

“You sure?” Paul asked, “And Eric, would you be okay with that?”

“I’m fine with it.” Eric shrugged.

“Alright, then you two are going to start rooming together.” Gene huffed, “Paul and I will start running nightly patrols to make sure the area stays clear. Eric, you’re going to have to stay with Ace at _ all _ times, alright?”

Eric furrowed his brow at that, not necessarily _ wanting _ to be watched at all hours of the day, but with what had just been described… He nodded in reply, knowing that this would be for the best. He also _ really _didn’t want to wind up as some… monster’s snack.

“Great.” Paul sighed and stood up, “Gene, let’s go.”

Gene followed Paul out of the room, the two speaking in hushed tones, and left Eric with Ace.

“Are you alright?” Eric quickly asked.

“Huh?” Ace looked up.

“From earlier, you looked… you looked pretty banged up.” Eric frowned sympathetically at the guitarist.

“I’ll be fine in the morning.” Ace shrugged, “We have a fast recovery rate, whatever’s broken-”  
“Broken?” Eric’s face fell.

“Or bruised, I don’t really know how bad it is.” Ace yawned, “I just need to get some rest, and so do you.”

“But-” Eric interrupted.

“You _ need _ to rest Eric, you’ve had to deal with a lot today.” Ace stopped him, shaking his head, “Get some sleep, we can talk more in the morning.”

Eric frowned, but went along with Ace’s instructions, figuring the Spaceman had put up with enough that day.

After throwing some more comfortable clothing on, Eric hopped into bed, watching as Ace took the couch. The guitarist’s eyes flared blue as he positioned himself to keep watch over Eric for the night. Eric felt uneasy under the intense stare, but his exhaustion quickly won out and he slipped into a deep slumber.

____

Eric began to stir as sunlight shone through the hotel window. The headache from the night before had completely dissipated, but as he opened his eyes and saw Ace keeping watch, he realized the events from the night before hadn’t been something he’d dreamed up. As he sat up, he saw Ace turn and give him a nod, then stretched a bit and stood up.

“You sleep alright?” Ace yawned and Eric could hear bones cracking as the guitarist stretched.

“Uh, yeah,” Eric nodded, watching in awe as little sparks flew off of Ace’s frame, “Is that really lightning?”

“Sort of?” Ace pursed his lips, “It’s hard to explain, they’re kind of like energy constructs? Well, they’re pure energy actually, they just take the form of lightning.”

“So you do energy lightning, Gene throws fire, and Paul…?” Eric frowned, not really knowing how to classify what paul could do.

“Paul’s an interesting one,” Ace brought a hand to his chin as he thought about it, “I mean we all have secondary abilities, Paul can throw energy bolts, but he can also kinda see the future? His shit’s weird.”

“He’s… psychic?” Eric offered.

“Eh, he can only read the minds and communicate telepathically with people he’s close to, so not really? I don’t think?” Ace frowned, “I’ll get back to you on that.”

“What’re Gene’s other powers?” Eric asked, suddenly extremely curious about what cool things his friends could do.

“Gene’s got superhuman strength, he stopped a runaway train once. Don’t tell him I told you this, but it was actually really fuckin’ cool.” Ace chuckled.

“What could Peter do?”

“Peter was kind of a Beast Master,” Ace nodded as if he were reminding himself of what the former drummer could do, “He could shapeshift into different feline animals and had super heightened senses. When we weren’t in public, he actually would chill out in this weird half-cat half-human form, he was _ very _fluffy.”

“So… like a werewolf, but with cats?” Eric laughed at the ridiculous image of Peter with cat ears and a tail.

“Yeah, that’s actually a good way to put it.” Ace hummed in agreement.

“And you?” Eric questioned, noticing that Ace had a soft blue glow surrounding him.

“Well I’ve got the lightning bolts,” Ace smiled as electric energy zapped between his fingers, “and I can travel through space. Don’t need any special sort of suit at all, I can breathe normally up there.”

“You’ve been to _ space?” _Eric gasped, eyes widening.

“Yup, it’s super cool up there.” Ace sighed, closing his eyes and letting his power flow through the room, creating images of planets and stars, galaxies Eric couldn’t have even imagined exist, “These are all the places I’ve been. When we have breaks, I patrol the Milky Way to make sure there aren’t any threats headed this way from there.”

“Is that where the Destroyer thing is from?” 

“Yeah, the talismans are alien relics too,” Ace explained, “we think they’ve been around since the beginning of everything. They go where they’re needed most, and they choose hosts they deem worthy. No clue why they chose any of us though considering who we are.”

“I’m not sure anyone could trust you with cooking on a stove let alone guarding Earth from weird aliens and shit.” Eric snorted.

“Aw Foxy, I’m hurt!” Ace feigned offense dramatically, leaning back with a hand thrown over his forehead.

“Wait-” Eric interrupted the show, “You were drunk last night and yet-”

“Ah yeah… well…” Ace furrowed his brow, “I can’t get _ really _ drunk anymore, I can get buzzed and sometimes more than that, but shitfaced? Nah, I don’t even get _ high _ anymore- like, I _ think _ I can, but if there’s any kind of danger around the power in my blood can destroy anything it decides is harmful the minute it finds it.”

“Then why were you acting like that last night?” Eric cocked his head as he watched Ace hover off the ground to get a big, full body stretch in.

“Gotta keep up the appearance of the totally fucked up rockstar man!” Ace cackled, “Like, a lot of the time I still am pretty fucked up when we’re all chilling, but I snap out of it the second I sense danger. We weren’t planning on letting you in on this because it’d really be safer for you to not know but… well… that plan didn’t really work.”

“I feel like _ I _should be the one offended now.” Eric rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“It was only to protect you Fox,” Ace frowned as he set himself back down and Eric finally got his ass out of bed, “but now you’re gonna have to deal with all the wacky shit we see everyday. Don’t worry though, I’ll make sure nothing comes after you.”

“But last night…” Eric mumbled and looked out the window.

“_ That _, was a unique circumstance.” Ace sighed, “He doesn’t come after us often, but when he does… well… without the four talismans being used together, it’s very touch and go.”

“Are they connected?”

“Yeah, they’re stronger together than apart. It’s why we weren’t able to really fend off Darth Shadowfucker last night, but he won’t be back for a while… I hope.” Ace shrugged, “Hey, you wanna get food? Because I’m starving.”

“Oh uh, sure.” Eric nodded, “Lemme get dressed.”

Ace flashed him a thumbs up, but didn’t move.

“Uh… Ace?” Eric furrowed his brow.

“Yup, I’m here.” Ace smiled.

“I’m… getting dressed.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You can uh- you can leave?” 

“Leav- _ oh! _Oh yeah no problem, I’ll just- yup got it.” Ace made some finger gun motions at him before stepping out into the hallway.

Eric stared at the door Ace had left through for a moment before shaking his head. It was going to be weird from now on.

____

Eric and Ace wound up running into Paul and Gene in the lobby after getting off the elevator. After a few minutes of discussing strategy, most of which Eric didn’t really get, they all headed out to find a diner to get food together. The three men before him suddenly seemed… different to Eric. Obviously, the whole powers thing was still new and had totally blown Eric away, but now? He was used to Ace and Gene butting heads constantly, he was used to Paul being a little distant, hell he was used to seeing them all being a dysfunctional family. Now though… he watched as they held themselves differently, they were close as if they’d weathered long storms together. Eric assumed that they’d fought by each other’s side, but seeing how close it had brought them together… Knowing the talismans were connected, it was easy to see just how everything worked. There was a natural sense of camaraderie between the guitar players that he’d never noticed before, or maybe they’d hid it for him, but watching them interact and chat and just _ exist together… _he couldn’t fathom how badly the loss of Peter could have affected them.

A sinking sense of dread filled Eric as the group entered the little diner they’d happened by on their stroll. He was just a fill in, a replacement, he would never really be a part of the _ group _like Peter was. He was the outsider, he was the outlier, he was-

“Eric.” Paul interrupted his train of thought, the curly-haired singer gazing at him sadly.

“Oh uh, yeah?” Eric stammered in surprise, not knowing how to react to the sympathetic look on Paul’s face.

“I can feel that you know.” Paul’s voice quieted, “You’re projecting your emotions very strongly right now.”

“Oh.” Eric frowned, embarrassment flooding his system.

“We brought you in because you’re a great drummer, and you aren’t a replacement. You’re just a change, you’re something different. We kept you around because we knew we could trust you if things went South.” Paul hummed softly, “You _ are _our friend, so don’t start thinking otherwise, alright?”

“I-” Eric flushed, not having expected the comforting words from Paul in the slightest, “I can try.”

“That’s all we can ask for.” Paul smiled then led Eric to join the other two at the table.

Ace shot a knowing smile at Eric as he and Paul joined him and Gene at the table, then turned his attention back to the menu. Everyone was relatively quiet as they looked their menus over, but after placing their orders Eric started shifting and bouncing a little anxiously. He had so many questions for the guys, but didn’t know how to start.

“Eric!” Ace singsonged, pulling Eric out of his head, “You’ve got that look on your face again!”

“Uh, which one?” Eric pressed his lips together as he heated up in embarrassment. 

“The ‘I have a question but am too scared to ask’ look.” Ace grinned.

“I mean, if I found out my bandmates had powers I’m sure I’d have questions.” Gene shrugged.

“What do you wanna know Eric?” Paul smiled.

“Oh well,” Eric took a moment to think, “so when did you get your talismans?”

“A little while after we recorded Hotter than Hell.” Gene mused, “We were out on tour and a few earthquakes had hit.”

“They were normal until they weren’t,” Paul chimed in, “we were out in the desert, just the four of us in the station wagon, and suddenly we saw a bunch of lights in the sky. The talismans were the lights and they flew to each one of us.”

“You’ve seen my lightning bolt.” Ace laughed.

“This is my gargoyle.” Gene materialized a little trinket that looked like a demon with bat wings.

“And this is my star.” Paul pulled back his hair and pointed to the star earring he almost always wore.

“They’re beautiful.” Eric gazed at them in wonder, watching how they shone silver in the light, “What was Peter’s?”

“It was a wild cat.” Ace explained, “We don’t know where it is though, it flew off after Peter lost his bond with it.”

“You mentioned the ethereal plane last night… what is that?” Eric frowned as he remembered more bits and pieces from the conversation the night before.

“It’s the plane where we go in our dreams.” Paul sighed wistfully, “It’s like a haven, a place where we can recuperate… It’s difficult to explain, but it’s where _ they _reside.”

“They?” Eric cocked his head a little.

“We can use our powers like this.” Gene explained and his eyes flashed red for a second, “But, they’re more powerful when we fully access the power of the talismans.”

“And in the talismans there are guides,” Paul continued, “well, they sort of reside in the ethereal plane, but they basically guided us each to find our power and helped us to unlock the full potential of our abilities.”

“They’re quiet now,” Ace frowned, “when they finished their duty of training us, they went back to wherever they came from originally.”

“So, the ethereal plane is just a place that’s _ yours?” _Eric thought aloud.

“Yes,” Paul nodded, “each of us has a place there, our own special domain where we can recharge after bad fights. After patrolling last night, Gene and I popped in there to regain energy.”

“Do you go there physically?”

“We can,” Ace smiled, “typically our minds do the crossing over bit, going in physically is dangerous.”

“Going in spiritually is just as dangerous, Ace.” Paul reminded him softly, “It’s how we almost lost Peter. He went there and got jumped and his soul and body were separated for… well…”

“I’m gonna say it wasn’t good?” Eric’s face fell.

“He got better when we reunited his soul with his body, but he was never able to reconnect with his talisman. It’s one of the reasons why he left.” Gene sighed sadly.

“Are the tensions more for the media to stir up interest?” Eric asked quietly.

The other three each looked at one another before turning back to Eric with awkward grins.

“I mean, we’re different people and we get into spats.” Gene huffed.

“But the talismans bind us, we had to learn how to get along to harness the powers. We had to act as one.” Paul hummed.

Before Eric could ask another question however, the food came out to the table, and Eric’s stomach grumbled angrily.

“I think the Fox needs to chow down,” Ace chuckled, “and so do I- yes! My pancakes!”

Eric, Paul, and Gene laughed at Ace’s excited outburst, Eric almost snorting as Ace gave a few fist pumps, but soon the food was dolled out and the boys were too busy eating to worry about much else.

______

The next few weeks practically rocketed by. The schedule became pretty hectic, with show after show after show, and it didn’t allow for much to do other than eat, put makeup on, play a concert, take off makeup, go back to the hotel, and sleep. Sometimes girls would become an added slot in there, but since he was sharing a room with Ace it had gotten a little more difficult to get a good lay in, very unsure of how he felt about his friend being there while he was getting it on with whoever he’d brought back that night. 

While Ace had been a damper on that bit of rockstar life, it didn’t stop Eric from grabbing a drink with him every now and then and just hanging out with Ace in general. It had taken a bit to get used to his more eccentric habits, like when he totally spaced out and gazed into space for long periods of time, but Ace was actually very nice to be around. Now that he wasn’t acting like a drunk disaster of a human being, Eric had learned Ace was actually a fairly soft spoken individual. Sure he was still the goofy guitarist he’d come to know, but now he could see more into the picture. 

Wherever Ace went, laughter still ensued, but now Eric was catching snippets of soft phone calls to his family, peeking into his songwriting process, and listening to him mindlessly strum an acoustic guitar he’d started keeping with him on the road. It was interesting to see this side of Ace to say the least. Eric had gotten so used to Ace just being a hyperactive cokehead and an overall alcoholic disaster, that seeing him just sit, chill, and not cause random chaos was a total change of pace. While the guitarist kept up that persona in public still, be it interviews or interactions with fans, when the days were over with he would always revert back into the quiet soul who loved to gaze out windows with curious eyes and a guitar in hand.

Of course, the past couple of weeks hadn’t gone by completely without any hitches.

One night, Eric and Ace had been browsing a record store when Ace had perked up into high alert mode. The guitarist had gotten Eric out of the shop immediately and had hidden him in an alleyway before kicking the shit out of some shadowy creatures. The moment Ace had beaten back most of the things, he’d grabbed Eric’s wrist and launched into a sprint to get him back to the hotel. Another evening, Ace had to recharge so Paul had come out to go clubbing with Eric. Everything had been fun and fine and some time into the night Eric had found a very cute brunette to dance with, but Paul had ripped him away from her. Eric had been confused, but when Paul dragged Eric out of the club, the woman had followed and she’d become some terrifying, harpy-like creature. Paul had dispatched the monster easily before guiding Eric back to the hotel and putting him in lockdown with Gene. When Eric was with Gene however, no monsters seemed to creep up on them. He’d later learned that it was because Gene’s demonic aura was so strong that it _ forced _ monsters to avoid him. Only more sentient beings like the Dark One could confront Gene head on, but it didn‘t make Gene any less cautious when he was out and about with Eric. And those were just a _ few _of the weird encounters he’d had.

After Ace had finished doing a full recharge, something that had taken a full two days of rest for him to do, Eric was moved back into Ace’s watch. Eric watched curiously as Ace went through the motions of bringing himself back to full consciousness, being shocked at how slow Ace seemed for a while, but he was back to normal after some kind of electric discharge that turned the whole room blue for a few seconds.

“How was your nap?” Eric chuckled as Ace started stretching his body out.

“Was good,” Ace groaned and there was a satisfying pop sound that came from his back as he cracked it, “I needed it after everything that’s happened. I haven’t really taken enough time to rest in… too fucking long.”

“Good thing you did then.” Eric nodded, “When you’re in the ethereal plane, what does it look like?”

“Well, it’s different for all of us, Paul’s domain is a beach with a permanent sunset, Gene’s is an underground cave filled with torches, kinda like a vampire lair actually.” Ace cackled, “He’s got a cape and everything in there, it’s very funny.”

“What about your domain?” Eric questioned, watching as Ace turned to him and they locked eyes.

“I…” Ace’s mouth hung open just slightly, and he looked lost in thought, “It’s hard to explain, let me… I can show you.”

“Show me?” Eric furrowed his brow, then yelped as it suddenly felt like his body had been dunked in ice water.

Eric shut his eyes tightly and he shivered, but could feel Ace’s hands holding him steady. He also could feel a light breeze blowing through his hair, and while it was cold, it wasn’t unwelcoming, it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“You can open your eyes.” Ace’s voice echoed softly, speaking with one voice that was somehow many.

Eric blinked his eyes open and felt his jaw drop as he saw the area around him.

No longer were the pair in their hotel room, but they were standing on a translucent blue pathway surrounded by the inky black vastness of space and a rainbow of stars and space dust. Eric gasped as he saw more and more stars begin to twinkle in the sky, not believing what he was seeing.

“Ace this is-” Eric spun to face him, but froze as he stared at Ace.

Instead of the Ace who’d been before him a second before, he was met with an Ace who had to have just stepped out of the ‘70s. Long black hair flew gently around him, silver and black lined eyes were soft and calm, a smile was on his black-painted lips, and he looked much more at ease than Eric had ever seen him.

“This is mine.” Ace hummed, his voice everywhere at once and Eric couldn’t help but stare at him in awe, “The path leads two ways, one to Paul and one to Gene, the other way is to my haven.”

“Can I see it?” Eric asked curiously.

Ace nodded before opening his arms,

“I can take you the fun way if you’d like?”

“The fun way?” Eric arched an eyebrow, catching a mischievous look in Ace’s eyes.

Ace gave a hyena-like cackle and suddenly Eric was falling off the blue path, but he wasn’t falling. He was… floating?

“It’s space Eric, no gravity!” Ace laughed as he floated up next to Eric, blue aura flashing to life.

“H- how am I breathing then?” Eric stuttered, a little turned around by how he was moving.

“I won’t let anything happen to you Eric, not here.” Ace told him and gathered Eric up in his arms.

“Uh-” Eric flushed as Ace practically picked him up, but he didn’t have time to complain because Ace was _ flying. _

Eric looked around in wonder as stars in every color sped around him and was amazed by how Ace was able to maneuver while holding him. He was also still taken aback by the fact that Ace was carrying him as if he were… well… his arms were looped around the underside of Eric’s knees and shoulders and Eric’s hands were around Ace’s shoulders-

“Here we go,” Ace grinned as a little island floating by itself appeared before them.

Ace slowly floated down to it and helped Eric to his feet then he smiled brightly,

“Welcome to my haven!”

Eric looked at the little space in disbelief. It was a beautiful area, the grass was silver, the flowers were blue, there was a waterfall and pond whose water matched the color of the flowers, and big black stone cliffs surrounded the island, making a perfect circle in the sky.

“This… this is amazing.” Eric breathed as he walked to the waterfall seeing that there were huge silver trees lining the area as well.

“It’s certainly something.” Ace smiled happily, tilting his face up to the sky… or more of the sky?

Eric looked up and his eyes widened as he saw a silver moon directly above them, shining brightly and… warmly?

“What is that?” Eric asked breathlessly.

“That’s what recharges my power.” Ace sighed as his whole body started to radiate a beautiful aurora of lights, “She’s asleep right now, but that’s where my guide is hosted when she chooses to appear.”

“She’s… the moon?” Eric furrowed his brow, eyes flashing between the beautiful celestial body and the dancing lights of his Celestial friend.  
“She is.” Ace turned his gaze back to Eric who gasped immediately.

Starlight danced in Ace’s eyes, as if there were whole galaxies hiding in their depths. Eric couldn’t help but move closer to Ace, wanting to see more, _ needing _to see more.

“Uh, Eric?” Ace stared at Eric in confusion.

Eric didn’t respond, he only moved closer until he was nearly chest to chest with Ace. He stared up into Ace’s eyes, noticing the concerned look on Ace’s face, but all he could do was stare at the beauty before him.

“There- there are-” Eric gazed into eyes that seemed to hold stars shining brightly in them, “There are stars in your eyes.”

“Stars in my…?” Ace narrowed his eyes as he thought for a moment and Eric felt something strange come over him.

Eric watched as Ace glowed brighter and brighter, shining ethereally in the moonlight. His body seemed to move on its own as he stepped closer to Ace, his body tingling slightly, and all he could feel was a strong desire to- to- what was it? What was this feeling? He kept moving closer to Ace, pushing up against him now, yet Ace still had a look of confusion on his face.

“A- Ace,” Eric panted softly, hands shaking as he reached up to hold Ace’s shoulders.

“Eric- Eric what’re you doing?” Ace whispered and Eric could see his eyes had darkened.

“I- I’m-” Eric frowned as the feeling in him grew stronger, it was urging him to- to-

“Am I doing this to you?” Ace asked suddenly looking horrified, “D- did I glamour you?”

“Glamour?” Eric frowned, “No I feel- I feel-”

“Fuck, I didn’t know I could do that what if-” Ace shook his head nervously, trying to pull away.

“Ace what’s-” but Eric stopped as he started to put two and two together on what he was feeling and his eyes widened.

He stared up at Ace, as the past few weeks began to flash past his eyes.

Ace had risked life and limb for him, doing whatever he could to make sure Eric was protected, that Eric was safe. He’d even let his _ guard down _ around Eric, something that Paul and Gene had been surprised by. They’d told him that even when Peter was with them, it had taken weeks, _ months, _ for Ace to actually form close bonds with people and to _ be _ close enough to act like the person he was. Of course he and Ace had been friends before, he certainly wouldn’t have been what Eric considered a _ close friend. _ Now, however, it was different, there was something else Eric felt, something much deeper than friendship. He’d never even considered that maybe this could happen, but there was Ace, glowing, hair flowing in the breeze, eyes full of _ stars- _

“Kiss me.” Eric whispered, gazing longingly up at Ace.

He could feel Ace stiffen, but the guitarist’s eyes held no malice. They held something that Eric couldn’t place, couldn’t name-

“Don’t-” Ace breathed shakily, “Don’t tease me like that, Eric.”

“Tease you? No Ace, I- I mean it-” Eric shook his head, tightening his hands on Ace’s shoulders.

_ “Eric.” _Ace groaned, but he didn’t pull away.

_ “Ace.” _Eric moaned, trying to convey what he was feeling, what he wanted, needed, he needed-

Ace’s hand was on Eric’s chin, tilting Eric’s head up further than it already was. Eric only had a moment to process what was happening before Ace’s lips were on his, Ace’s arms were around him, Ace was- Ace was _ kissing him. _

Ace’s lips were soft, a little dry, but they were _ so soft _ and he was pressing them so gently against Eric’s. The Spaceman had to bend down a little to kiss Eric, but the situation was remedied not long after as Ace’s hands reached down to Eric’s thighs, and the drummer found himself being lifted up, then pushed into one of the surrounding walls. Eric quickly wrapped his legs around Ace’s waist, gasping at the display of strength from the Spaceman. A moment later, Ace was running his tongue along the part in Eric’s lips, and, with a whimper, Eric let him in. He could feel Ace groan into him and his tongue brushed up against Eric’s. The slow, almost lazy slide of their tongues stroking one another drew soft sighs of pleasure from the smaller man. It didn’t take long for Eric to start to lose his breath, especially with how many noises Ace was coaxing from him and how good he felt pressed between the guitarist and the wall. He pulled away, slowly, not wanting the moment to end, but he needed air. He panted, trying to catch his breath while Ace had moved his lips down to Eric’s jawline, carefully placing kisses on whatever exposed skin he could reach.

“A- Ace-” Eric moaned softly, feeling not just the kisses but one of Ace’s hands had moved to his waist and had snaked under his shirt, palming the skin there.

“Mm, hey Eric.” Ace practically purred into his ear then pressed his lips to Eric’s cheek and pulled back, “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that for.”

“I definitely don’t, but you could always tell me.” Eric laughed back softly, moving his arms to wrap himself a little closer into Ace.

“I could, but where’s the fun in that?” Ace chuckled before placing a quick kiss to Eric’s lips again, “But shit, I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t think you’d be the one to make the first move.”

“Neither did I,” Eric blushed, looking away shyly, “it just… it hit me out of nowhere. You brought me here… did you even know that you have stars in your eyes?”

“I knew they glowed,” Ace shook his head with a chuckle, “but I didn’t know about the stars.”

“Well, you’ve got stars shining in there.” Eric smiled and booped Ace’s nose.

“You’ve gotta be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” Ace sighed as he finally let Eric down, gently making sure he didn’t scrape Eric’s back against the rocks as he did so.

“So,” Eric grinned as he looked around Ace’s haven again, still not believing how beautiful it was there, “are we here physically or..?”

“I sorta dragged your conscious in here with me.” Ace shrugged with an awkward grin, “It was the easiest way to get you in here with me though.”

“So, did our bodies just kinda… drop in the hotel room?” Eric frowned a bit.

“Yup.” Ace nodded, “I think I shoved you onto the bed, but I’m not sure now. We should head back though, don’t need you getting all jet lagged from our trip.”

“Uh, jet-lagged?” Eric cocked an eyebrow at Ace.

“You’ll understand when we get back.” Ace hummed, then pulled Eric into him for a tight embrace, “Hold on.”

Eric jolted up, breathing heavily as he landed back in the hotel room. He was on the floor, or sort of on the floor, he was mostly on top of Ace who was just looking at him with a dopey grin. The shorter haircut was back, and the makeup was gone, but it was still Ace on the floor under him.

“Hi there Foxy.” Ace just kept smiling, the soft look in his eyes sending a shudder down Eric’s spine.

“Why does it feel like I fell out a window.” Eric whined as he rolled off the guitarist, his body aching all over.

“It’ll do that the first few times, your body and mind aren’t used to astral projecting.” Ace explained.

“Is that what that was?”

“Kinda?” Ace shrugged with a goofy grin, “I mean… it was an out of this world experience!”

“Ace no.” Eric groaned at the terrible joke.

“Aww, Foxy you _ love _ my jokes!” Ace protested as he got to his feet and helped Eric off the ground, “And I _ know _your favorites are the bad ones!”

“Shhh, no one needs to remember that right now.” Eric laughed, playfully punching one of Ace’s arms as he did so.

Ace caught Eric’s hand however, quickly pulling Eric over to him and bringing their lips together. A little surprised squeak escaped Eric at the suddenness of the action, but as he heard Ace laugh he smiled and met the Spaceman with an enthusiastic chuckle. With their lips firmly pressed together, Eric felt a sense of calm wash over him, comforting and steadying him in a way he hadn’t felt in weeks. Even when Ace pulled away, Eric felt centered, his body thrumming contently and he couldn’t wipe the smile on his face as he looked into the starry eyes of his bandmate.

“So…” Ace hummed softly, running his hand through Eric’s curly locks, “Us huh?”

“It sure seems that way.” Eric’s smile grew even wider and he mentally chided himself for acting like a lovesick puppy.

Aw fuck, _ was _he a lovesick puppy?

However, even though he was lost in thought, he noticed Ace had turned to look out the window again. Eric followed his eyes, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary and arched an eyebrow at Ace.

“There’s nothing there,” Ace sighed, “not right now.”

“I can take care of myself,” Eric protested, catching the nervous tone shift in Ace’s voice, “I know I don’t look it, but I grew up in the City too!”

“... Eric, you’re tinier than Peter.” Ace struggled not to snort, covering his mouth with a hand.

Eric pouted, shooting his best stink eye in Ace’s direction while the guitarist was still trying his best to stifle his laughter.

“Ah,” Ace finally sighed as the vestiges of his barely suppressed laughter died out, “That pouty face you make is so cute!”

Eric merely rolled his eyes at him, but found that even like this, he wasn’t able to really be mad with Ace. Mild annoyance happened from time to time but-

“Whatcha thinkin’ about there?” Ace was grinning as his soft eyes focused on Eric and Eric alone.

“Oh um…” Eric blushed, not used to the feeling of Ace looking at him like _ that, _“Y’know just some… uh… stuff?”

“Ah stuff.” Ace nodded then smirked, “Am _ I _the stuff?”

“... Maybe.” Eric offered a small, shy smile.

“Aw, so cute!” Ace laughed again, bringing himself closer into Eric and kissing his forehead softly.

“Ah! Ace!” Eric giggled as Ace started planting kisses on every part of Eric’s face he could reach.

“_ What? _ Am I not allowed to kiss my… my uh…” Ace pulled away, a concentrated, face scrunched look spreading over his features, “What uh… what do _ you _ want us to be?”

“Well… we’re together?” Eric hummed, butterflies in his stomach fluttering in excitement at the prospect, “Are we boyfriends?”

“We can be if you want.” Ace nodded, a smile reappearing on his lips.

“I think I would like that.” Eric grinned back, “I’d like that _ a lot.” _

Ace’s smile grew and he started to laugh before scooping Eric up and kissing him sweetly.

Eric couldn’t help but smile in return.

_____________________________

The tour through Oceana had been a big success, and Eric couldn’t have been happier. They hadn’t had any other _ big _problems after the attack of the Dark One, but a few critters had popped up in the meantime. Luckily, Ace and Eric had become practically glued to one another’s side and the Spaceman had sprung into action whenever needed to protect Eric.

When the tour was finally winding down, a little dilemma came up that no one had really considered beforehand however. 

The guys all lived in different places, and Eric was still crashing with his parents in New York. While normally this wouldn’t be an issue, now that Eric was a target for The Destroyer’s lackies, not only could he be unsafe while left alone, but his family could be targeted as well.

“So you’re telling me I _ can’t _go home to my family?” Eric almost yelled in frustration as the other three shuffled around awkwardly after telling him that he’d need to remain under watch.

“I’m saying it wouldn’t be a good idea.” Paul frowned, “Not only would you be in danger, but it’s likely that if you go home, your family could get hurt.”

“Yeah, I get that part, I don’t want them getting hurt.” Eric scowled, “But- but I can’t even go home and _ see _ them? What the _ hell?” _

“Eric,” Ace hummed softly clasping a hand on Eric’s shoulder, “it’ll be ok, I mean maybe we can stop by for a bit but-”

“But I can’t actually go home.” Eric huffed, crossing his arms in annoyance.

“It’s just not a smart idea Eric, not with the Dark One out there and knowing our connection to you. He’ll exploit that.” Gene explained slowly.

“Then why the _ fuck _ is Peter not being monitored?” Eric spat, shrugging Ace’s hand off of him.

“Because Peter-” Paul began.

“Because he already broke Peter.” Ace cut in, voice shrill and eyes burning with a rage unlike any Eric had ever seen, “Because he _ got _what he needed from Peter. He stole his life, his power-”

“Ace…” Paul grabbed him as Eric shrunk back from his angered partner, “It isn’t his fault, he’s frustrated-”

“I-” Ace stammered out then hung his head, “I’m sorry.”

“What… what happened to Peter?” Eric asked softly, _ hesitantly, _because he was afraid of what he may hear.

“Come with me.” Ace shook his head, then led Eric by the hand to somewhere more private.

As they walked, Eric caught sight of Paul moving into Gene’s open arms and soft words were coming from the Demon’s mouth. Eric looked at the pair in confusion, but his attention was ripped away as Ace pulled him into a little room that could barely qualify as a storage closet.

“Ace…” Eric asked, resting his hand against Ace’s chest, feeling the erratic beat of his heart there, “What actually happened with Peter?”

“His talisman, his _ powers _, they were the most unpredictable and dangerous,” Ace began, voice quiet and he looked like he could shatter at any moment, “it wasn’t ever a problem… until it was. We still don’t know what actually happened, but when his body and soul were separated, his body… it became possessed by the Dark One while we were fighting The Destroyer.”

“That isn’t all, is it?” Eric frowned, watching as Ace’s eyes started to well up.

“No, it isn’t.” Ace shook his head, “We managed to reunite Peter’s soul and body, but something in him was… different. He became distant, began doing stupid shit that even _ I _would’ve ever considered… It wasn’t until he got violent that we figured out that anything was wrong.”

“What do you mean violent?”

“He attacked us.” Ace’s voice started to shake and tears spilled from his eyes, “Something in him was broken, corrupted by the possession we think. He wasn’t strong enough to resist the pull of The Destroyer and we had to incapacitate him and remove the talisman… He left because he couldn’t trust himself around us anymore, he was so afraid he’d hurt us and the self doubt he had about it shattered the connection with his talisman.”

“He… is he still…?” Eric whispered.

“No, when the talisman broke off, he returned to normal.” Ace wiped his eyes an sniffled, “But whatever the Dark One did to him, it sapped part of the talisman’s power and Peter is _ still _trying to piece his soul back together. They got what they wanted from Peter, he can’t fight them anymore so they don’t care.”

“Oh Ace.” Eric pulled the now crying guitarist into a tight hug, unsure of what else he could do to comfort him.

“That’s why I can’t leave you to go off on your own,” Ace cried, burying his face into Eric’s fluffy hair, “I lost my best friend, I _ can’t _lose you too.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Eric hummed, carding his hands through Ace’s hair.

“Come home with me.” Ace whispered suddenly, pulling back, his eyes still watery but full of hope and something Eric couldn’t place, “I know it’s not your family, but I can’t- I can’t let anything happen to you.”

“Can we at least stop by my parents’ place?” Eric asked gently, moving a hand to cup Ace’s cheek.

“Yeah, you’ll need clothes and stuff-” Ace shook his head, “We can figure things out on the plane.”

“Yeah, we can.” Eric offered Ace a soft smile and kissed him, “It’ll be alright.”

“Yeah. Yeah it will.”

_______

Things had been better hashed out on the plane ride back to the States. Paul and Gene were going to settle some things out in California before heading back to the East Coast and Ace was going to take Eric home for a bit before heading up to his property in Connecticut. 

The trip home had been a little hard, Eric wanted to stay longer and tell his parents and sisters about everything, but knew that for their safety he and Ace had to get out of there quickly.

Eric had never been to Ace’s home before and didn’t really know what to expect. They’d both been quiet for a majority of the car ride up, Eric admittedly upset with not being able to see his family and Ace seemed… more tense than usual. When they pulled into the multi-circled driveway of what Eric could only describe as a mansion, he gawked at the spacious area surrounding the sprawling house. Trees and gardens and a _ massive _ yard surrounded the house which had windows upon windows _ upon windows- _

“What? You like it or something?” Ace snickered as they pulled into the giant garage where apart from the porsche he was driving at the moment, a few other sports cars and vintage ones were lined up.

“Holy fuck.” Eric gasped breathlessly, “How _ much _ did this _ cost?” _

“... More than I’d like to admit.” Ace laughed sheepishly as he turned the car off and hopped out, “C’mon, let’s get you settled in, yeah?”

Eric followed, helping Ace unload the car full of suitcases and walking through the door into the main house. Curiously, Eric looked around to see just how everything was put together and was mildly surprised by the tasteful furnishings Ace had on the first floor. Knowing the guitarist, Eric stifled a chuckle due to the fact that Ace must’ve had a designer come in to choose the furniture and paintings as well as their placement. Ace was too much of a disaster to have done anything like this.

Ace dropped off a guitar case in front of a door under the staircase, flashing Eric a smile, then walked to the staircase and headed up to the second floor. Eric wasn’t far behind, but stopped at the top of the stairs as he noticed Ace looking back and forth between a few doors.

“Uh,” Ace worried a lip between his teeth, scratching his head with his free hand, “you want your own room or…”

Eric flushed a little as he thought about maybe sharing a room, a _ bed, _with Ace. They hadn’t done much since Ace had taken him to his Haven. They’d kissed and there were definitely some steamy makeouts that had occurred in stolen moments, but for the most part the two hadn’t really… done… much.

“It’s up to you.” Eric whispered, feeling his face turn bright red and was unable to look up at Ace out of embarrassment.

“Hey,” Ace turned and walked back up to him, a hand immediately slipping under his chin and tilting his head up, “this is new for both of us, I mean _ shit, _I’m nervous too Foxy!”

Eric laughed a little as he looked up at Ace, who was also a little ruddy-faced but was looking down at Eric with star-sparkling eyes that couldn’t help but betray the fondness the Spaceman had for the shorter man. Said shorter man hopped up onto his toes to kiss Ace, taking him by surprise, but after that moment of hesitation the guitarist was kissing him back. As Eric pulled Ace down more to his height so that he wasn’t straining to reach the taller man, a smile spread across Ace’s lips. It was one of those little things that he’d noticed since they’d gotten together, Ace always smiled into his kisses, not able to contain the pure, unadulterated joy he felt when he was with Eric. It was incredibly endearing and made Eric feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside in the same way that coming home to his mom’s homemade cooking or baking brightened his day.

“So does uh, this mean you’ll come share my room?” Ace pulled away, eyes hooded as he gazed at Eric with nothing but adoration in those big brown eyes.

“I’d like that.” Eric smiled then followed Ace into the master suite.

After setting up shop in Ace’s bedroom, which like the rest of the house was _ massive, _Ace had gone rummaging around in the pantry while Eric looked around and appreciated the amazing kitchen that he honestly doubted Ace knew how to use. He heard a groan come from the pantry as he sat at a bar stool and looked over to see a slightly frazzled looking Ace shaking his head.

“We’re gonna need to go shopping.” He explained with a frown, the bags under his eyes suddenly seeming more prominent than they had that morning.

“Well, you have been away for a while,” Eric teased with a smile, “were you expecting food to magically appear over here?”

“... Maybe.” Ace grumbled before grabbing his keys off the ring, “You’re coming with me though.”

“What? Why?” Eric pouted, he was _ tired _dammit.

“Can’t leave you alone Foxy,” Ace began, creeping up behind Eric and slowly wrapping his arms around the smaller man’s middle, his lips brushing against Eric’s ear, “never know when the big bad monsters’ll try to come and getcha!” 

“Hey!” Eric squaked as Ace lifted him from the chair and spun him around before letting his feet touch the ground, “You don’t have to pick me up all the time!”

“Aw but it’s _ fun!” _Ace giggled as he rested his chin atop Eric’s head, his arms still anchored to the smaller man’s middle.

“Ugh, fuckin’ tall people,” Eric groaned as Ace led him back to the garage and into the car.

Ace only smiled at him before they were once again on the road.

Luckily, the grocery store wasn’t very far away and was easy to get to. The store itself, was a bit of a different story because of how _ large _ it was and Eric found himself a little overwhelmed by the amount of stuff _ everywhere. _Ace on the other hand, put on his battle face, steeling himself for the upcoming mission of obtaining snacks.

“Let’s fuckin’ do this.” Ace smirked, grabbing a cart and making a beeline for aisle one.

Eric struggled a bit to keep up, but did his best to scurry along behind the determined guitarist.

The first few aisles were where Ace grabbed a few essentials; bread, peanut butter, jelly, pasta… What surprised Eric though, were all the baking mixes Ace was grabbing. He flashed an inquisitive look towards Ace who shrugged and smiled goofily before throwing a few boxes of brownie mix into the cart. That moment however, proved to be very telling about the trip, because the moment Ace turned into the snack aisle, an evil chuckle fell from the Spaceman’s lips.

“Oh yeah, come to the Space Ace.” He crooned as he set off down the way, grabbing whatever he could reach.

Eric found himself wondering if they’d need a second cart, but was quickly distracted by the wall of chocolate candies. Paul had had them all on a diet during the tour and Eric’s mouth watered as his eyes raked over the varieties of chocolates, feeling his self restraint being chiseled away by the second.

“Fuck it.” Eric grinned wildly, grabbed handfuls of his favorites, and threw them into Ace’s cart before rushing back to grab his favorite cookies.

He heard Ace laughing hysterically behind him as he picked up an armful of _ more _sweets, but when Eric turned he saw Ace doing the exact same thing.

“Woohoo! Fuck diet plans!” Ace cheered as he and Eric began to _ race _through the store, grabbing every bit of horrible junk food they could get their mitts on.

They grabbed chips and sodas and booze and random shit that Eric didn’t even know what it was, but Ace was convinced they needed it for some reason or another. All in all, their haul was glorious and when they were heading back to the register, they’d only managed to get a small smattering of real foodstuffs and a metric shitload of sweets.

“I’d say this was a successful trip!” Ace beamed as he paid the cashier lady and thanked her before he and Eric began their trek back to the car.

“Agreed.” Eric hummed as he looked at the bags that held all the delicious goodies that Eric doubted would last the week.

The ride home was uneventful, but after putting the groceries away back at Ace’s place, the two realized they hadn’t gotten any substantial food for dinner.

“Well, it isn’t a failure because we can order takeout!” Ace cackled after he finished stacking up pop tarts in one of the cabinets near the toaster oven.

“I thought we were going to the store to get stuff for dinner!” Eric countered, not able to keep a straight face while putting away the absurd amount of cookies they’d gotten.

“Well we did, but then _ you _ saw the chocolate!” Ace was laughing much harder now, stabilizing himself on the kitchen island with one arm while the other was holding his abs, “I’ve never seen _ anyone’s _ eyes go that wide before!”

“You started it by grabbing every brand of gummy candy you could see!” Eric shot back, “Oh god, and the _ ice cream-” _

“Hey listen man, I know what I’m about.”Ace’s boisterous laughter finally starting to peter out, “And I am all about delicious fuckin’ snacks!”

“... You know what? That’s fair.” Eric sighed as he hopped up on the counter next to Ace, watching him pull a variety of takeout manus from a drawer near the telephone.

“You want anything specific? We got two pretty good Chinese places, a decent pizza place, a decent Italian place which is run by the same family but… I don’t actually know the whole story there, but it’s not as good as the pizza which isn’t as good as New York pizza but-”

Eric rolled his eyes but was amused by Ace’s ramblings on about the different places they had for food around town. While Ace was still going on and on about food, Eric grabbed him by the shoulders, scooched over a bit, and pulled Ace in for a kiss.

It took the guitarist a moment to realize what was happening, but he quickly leaned into Eric, humming happily at the sudden change of actions. One of his hands trailed up Eric’s torso and then found the back of his neck while the other settled on the curve of Eric’s hip, and Eric buried his hands in Ace’s feathery, soft hair. It didn’t take long for Ace to situate himself between Eric’s thighs or for him to slip his tongue between Eric’s pliant lips. The shorter man moaned softly as Ace pressed tightly up against him, their bodies slotting comfortably together as their lips moved their way through a complex dance. It had started as something more chaste as Eric had just wanted a little kiss, but Ace was so close to him, his mouth more urgent against Eric’s. Ace’s skilled tongue and wandering hands sent shocks and shudders down Eric’s spine, almost overwhelming him as he struggled to keep up with the Spaceman’s fervent attentions. 

“A- Ace-” Eric murmured as he pulled back to take a breath, a line of saliva connecting from Eric’s lip to Ace’s.

“Hiya Foxy,” Ace rumbled, his voice and eyes heavy with what Erc could only describe as lust, “How ya doin’?”

“I’m uh- I’m-” Eric panted, his thoughts blurring together as Ace gave a few teasing ruts into his crotch drawing a surprisingly high whine from Eric.

“You like that?” Ace’s voice gained a rough edge to it that sent some very dirty thoughts spinning through Eric’s mind.

“Ace I uh- I don’t-” Eric gulped, knowing his body was responding to Ace’s touch if the sudden tightness in his pants was anything to go by.

“Not ready?” Ace asked gently, pulling away from Eric just slightly.

Eric was only able to shake his head, not quite sure if he wanted to go _ all _the way just yet.

“That’s ok Eric,” Ace smiled, pressing a kiss to Eric’s nose, “we don’t have to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.”

Eric matched Ace’s smile then pressed a soft kiss back to the guitarist’s lips.

“Shall we order food, my good sir?” Ace laughed as Eric pulled back, faking a _ horrendous _British accent.

“Oh but of course!” Eric chuckled back, knowing his attempt at the accent sounded… much worse than Ace’s.

Ace descended into a hysterical laughing fit before grabbing the phone and grinning at Eric,

“Any requests?”

“I could go for Italian.” Eric shrugged then pointed to a few things on the menu.

Ace nodded, dialed the number, and ordered.

The food didn’t take long to get there, but when it did, Ace and Eric had migrated over to the living room and the Spaceman had tuned the television to some silly sci-fi movie. After laying out the spread of food, the two began to eat in relative silence, the only real noise coming from the characters on screen. Eric had decided to start with the gnocchi he’d ordered, happily eating the pesto slathered potato dish while Ace chowed down on some fettucini. He did notice that Ace was eyeing up his container of food and an idea popped into his mind.

“Want some?” Eric asked slyly, waving a potato dumpling around on his fork.

“It _ does _ look good…” Ace thought aloud, “I think I _ would _like to try one.”

“Open up then,” Eric giggled, pressing up against Ace’s side and holding his fork up by Ace’s mouth.

He saw Ace pull a quizzical face, but the guitarist sighed and opened his mouth. 

A smile stretched across Eric’s face at the action and he slipped the little dumpling between Ace’s parted lips. Ace slowly closed his mouth over the fork and made a show of taking the bit of food off the fork and pulling off the utensil. Eric blushed a bit at the display and watched as Ace swallowed with a knowing look.

“Why are you _ like _this?” Eric snorted as Ace preened with a hilariously goofy smile.

“I like to think it’s my job to be a tease.” Ace countered, “You want some of mine?”

Eric took a look at the vodka sauce the fettucini sat in and nodded.

Ace carefully twirled the pasta on his fork, then brought it up to Eric’s mouth. Eric let Ace slip the bite of food into his mouth and groaned at the flavor of the lovely sauce that covered the pasta. While it wasn’t as good as his mom’s, it still felt like a little slice of home. He noticed Ace giving him a heated look and that’s when Eric felt the little bit of sauce that had gotten on the side of his mouth. As he reached up to wipe it off, Ace batted his hand aside and smirked before he leaned in and licked the schmutz off of Eric’s lips.

“Erm, Ace?” Eric shuddered as Ace finished off the act with a kiss on Eric’s cheek, “Watcha doin’?”

“Can’t waste that sauce, man.” Ace smirked, “It’s pretty damn good today, tastes a little better coming off you though.”

Eric rolled his eyes at the cheesy line before popping a forkful of gnocchi into his mouth while Ace burst into a fit of giggles. When that sound hit his ears, Eric couldn’t help but smile and he cuddled back into Ace’s side as the movie continued before them.

At some point Eric had nodded off because when he opened his eyes, he was being carried up the stairs.

“Wazzat?” Eric groaned groggily, shifting a little so he could look up and saw that yet again, Ace was carrying him.

“Hey sleepyhead.” Ace chuckled, “You conked out halfway through _ Star Trek.” _

“Was it the movie?” Eric furrowed his brow, struggling to remember what he’d been doing before passing out.

“V’Ger came on screen and you were out like a light.” Ace shook his head in amusement, “I _ know _ it’s boring, but I didn’t think it was _ that _boring!”

“Well it seemed to put me to sleep so…” Eric smiled as Ace went through the door to the bedroom, “Why do you have to _ carry _me everywhere?”

“To be fair, you’re small and the added talisman strength makes it easy to pick you up.” Ace explained with a smirk.

“Put me down!” Eric demanded, suddenly fed up with his small stature… again.

“Awww, but you’re so cute!” Ace protested, but allowed Eric to squirm out of his arms.

As soon as Eric’s feet hit the ground, he spun on his heels, wrapped his hands around Ace’s waist, and tossed the guitarist up and over his shoulder. Ace yelped as Eric threw him up there with ease, a feat that surprised Eric as well, especially with Ace being _ much _lighter than he looked, but he rolled with it. Besides, he wasn’t going to let Ace keep carrying him about all willy nilly without revenge.

“So, how’s that feel?” Eric smirked as he wandered about the bedroom with Ace who was too surprised to do much as he hung on the shorter man’s shoulder.

“Y’know, I’m not gonna lie, I am _ incredibly _turned on right now.” Ace sighed wistfully.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Eric snorted, shaking his head as Ace started squirming around a bit.

_ “Whaaaat? _ I’m bein’ honest here!” Ace cackled, “I knew you were strong, but I didn’t know you could pick _ me _up!”

“Well, as you can see, I can in fact pick you up.” Eric rolled his eyes before dumping Ace onto the bed, the guitarist flopping down in a very ungraceful manner.

Ace only laughed as he hit the mattress, and Eric went over to dig some pajamas out of his suitcase.

“You know, you can put your stuff in the empty drawers.” Ace hummed while Eric continued searching through his belongings, smiling when he found his flannel sleep pants. 

“Do you think I’ll have to be here for that long?” Eric turned and frowned a bit, still hopeful that he’d be able to go back home for a few days.

“We don’t know where the Dark One is or when he’ll strike again.” Ace looked down, deflating a little, “We- _ I _ can’t risk leaving you unprotected right now.”

Eric huffed a bit, but nodded. He knew it was going to be rough, but this… it just sucked a little. Hanging out and getting closer with Ace didn’t sound awful, it definitely hadn’t been so far, but he still wished he could go home. Ace was suddenly by his side, a comforting hand rubbing up and down his back. Eric leaned into it, his head settling on Ace’s shoulder and he just lay there, trying to clear his mind of everything that was swirling around in there. 

Carefully, the guitarist helped him to his feet and he was guided to the bed. It was slow, but Eric was suddenly groggy again, feeling as if he were moving through molasses. The drummer yawned a little, the already loose grip on his sleep pants loosening even more, but somehow he didn’t drop them. Ace made sure he wasn’t going to fall over as soon as they got to the side of the bed, then slipped away into the bathroom to give Eric some privacy to change.

Another yawn built up in the back of Eric’s mouth as he discarded the t-shirt and jeans he’d worn that day. He slid the softer pants onto his frame then contemplated finding a shirt to throw on for modesty’s sake. While he’d seen a _ lot _in the dressing rooms on tour and he knew Ace had seen just as much, if not more, he still felt a tad insecure about walking around without a shirt on. Before he could make up his mind though, Ace walked back into the room with a big yawn and stretching his arms out.

Eric became frozen to his spot, seeing Ace had forgone a shirt as well and _ fuck _if he didn’t look great. He barely registered a chuckle as Ace shot him a knowing look,

“See something you like?”

“I don’t know if I should answer that, you don’t need an ego boost.” Eric shook his head with a laugh.

“Oooh, but you _ do _think I look good?” Ace accentuated the jokes with a few flexes which sent Eric into a laughing fit so hard that he fell onto the bed.

Ace immediately hopped down next to him and Eric found himself enveloped by the guitarist’s arms. His laughter and Ace’s slowly ebbed away as they laid together, Eric becoming increasingly comfortable in Ace’s arms. Before he could get too comfy however, Ace gestured for them to get under the covers, lifting them for Eric after settling himself.

“Come ‘ere.” Ace hummed softly as Eric tucked himself in beside Ace, flushing as he was once again pulled into Ace’s grasp and the guitarist nuzzled into Eric’s neck, pressing little kisses there.

Eric sighed, any and all apprehensions and worries slipping away as Ace held him close and pressed kiss after kiss on his neck and jaw and cheeks.

“Oh,” Eric scrunched his face up, “the lights-!”

Ace snapped his fingers the second Eric’s mouth opened, a flash of blue light sparking off his fingers, and the house was plunged into darkness.

“... That’s handy as fuck.” Eric snorted.

“Yup, and lets me stay here,” Ace yawned as he cuddled up closer to Eric, “don’t wanna leave my cute Foxy.”

“Well, luckily I’m not going anywhere, no thanks to you,” Eric teased as he ruffled Ace’s hair, “but I’m happy here with you.”

“Yeah?” Ace perked up at the comment.

“Yeah.” Eric nodded, “I hate being away from my family but… I’m happy I at least get to be here with you.”

Ace responded by kissing Eric without hesitation. It was just a warm, solid pressure against him, a comforting presence. Eric whined softly, feeling as if all the tension and stress in his body was being pulled out by the sweet, gentle press of Ace’s lips against his own. When Ace pulled away, Eric frowned, not wanting the kiss to end. He was about to complain about it when one of Ace’s hands slowly trailed down his torso, wrapped around his middle, and he was pulled so that his back was flush to Ace’s front.

“Is this ok?” Ace asked, his voice quiet and almost hesitant.

“Yeah, it is.” Eric giggled softly and let himself relax into the hold.

He may not enjoy being carried around, but he could _ definitely _get used to the cuddes.

______________________________________________________________________________

Waking up in Ace’s arms also seemed to be something he could get used to. Sometime in the night Eric had shifted positions so that he was facing and tucked under Ace’s chin and arms, cuddled tightly into the Spaceman’s front. When he had started to come to, it was… strange to say the least. Typically, Eric would be the one holding his partners like he was being held now and it… was odd, but comforting. Ace had an arm loosely draped around Eric’s shoulder and the other tucked beneath his head. As Eric looked up, his eyes focused on Ace’s face and he flushed a bit. His mouth was ever so slightly agape, his eyes closed softly still. The look of total relaxation was adorable on the guitarist’s face, and all the worry and stress he usually carried in his brow was completely gone. Eric couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

He watched Ace for a little while before the Spaceman started to stir and shift around. With a groan and a movement that brought Eric closer to Ace, two deep brown eyes fluttered open. There was a hint of surprise in them before a smile lit up the sleepy Spaceman’s face.

“Mornin’,” Ace grinned, his voice rough from sleep.

“Morning.” Eric matched his smile then gasped as Ace gave him a quick kiss.

“Ah,” he hummed, “I get to keep doing that.”

“You do.” Eric laughed softly and brought a hand to Ace’s cheek, “You can even do it again right now.”

“I think I’ll take ya up on that offer, Foxy.” Ace smirked before rolling on top of Eric, legs straddling the smaller man’s waist, and again bringing their lips together.

Eric sighed as Ace pushed him down into the mattress, his other hand cupping Ace’s other cheek while the guitarist’s hands planted themselves next to the sides of his head. The kiss wasn’t urgent like the one on the kitchen counter had been the night before, but it was just as passionate. Ace’s lips were soft yet firm against Eric’s own, slowly moving and guiding the drummer through a light waltz in a way that made Eric near lightheaded in how far up on Cloud 9 he felt. With a sharp moan, Eric slipped his tongue out and traced the line of Ace’s lips, a smile forming on his face as he felt Ace chuckle against him, laughter bubbling happily from the guitarist. However, just as Ace was doing the thing where he sucked a bit on Eric’s tongue that said man fucking loved, the ring of a phone cut through the moment, effectively ruining it.

Eric groaned as Ace rolled off of him and off the bed to go pick up the phone and flashed Eric a very annoyed face as he did. Stifling a giggle, he watched curiously as Ace answered, trying to see if he could hear who it was over the line, but he couldn’t. He watched as Ace chatted, but mostly listened to the person on the other line, but when Ace’s face fell into an expression of worry Eric hopped up and off the bed to check on him.

“Thanks for the head’s up Gene, let us know when you’re headed out here with Paul,” Ace sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, saying his goodbyes, and hung up the phone.

“What’s wrong?” Eric asked softly reaching up and cupping Ace’s cheek.

Ace leaned into the touch and sighed, shaking his head a bit,

“Gene and Paul had a run in with some… not so minor minions over on the West coast.”

“Are they alright?” Eric’s eyes widened in shock at the news.

“Yeah, yeah they’re fine,” Ace sighed, rubbing his eyes a bit, “but they were sent by Dark Asshat to find _ you.” _

“Oh.” Eric’s entire mood fell because _ he _was the reason Gene and Paul had been in a fight.

“Eric, Eric,” Ace cooed, face softening as he pulled Eric into a tight embrace, “This _ isn’t _your fault, alright? Just because-”

“Ace, they were almost hurt because of _ me.” _Eric whispered into Ace’s chest.

“Because _ we _got careless.” Ace countered without hesitation, pulling away so that he could look Eric in the eyes, “We should’ve protected you better, we left you open and he found you.”

“How could you have protected me?” Eric shot back, suddenly feeling shaky, “That- that _ thing _ was _ surprised _when he saw me and-”

“Eric we were shielding you,” Ace shook his head, “we shielded you mentally from these kinds of things, or _ Paul _did. We got careless because we weren’t- fuck, Eric we weren’t geting the rest we needed to keep the shielding up.”

“But if it was Paul doing the shielding-” Eric furrowed his brow, trying to pull out of Ace’s hold.

“We used the talismans to make you appear as a powerless Peter on his radar that- _ that _ was Gene and my’s job.” Ace explained carefully, his grip on Eric’s arms steady and unyielding, “Eric, _ we _ didn’t protect you and _ we _ dragged you into our mess, so _ please _don’t blame yourself because you don’t deserve it.”

Those last few words echoed in Eric’s head.

_ Don’t blame yourself, you don’t deserve it. _

He looked up to Ace’s intense, yet caring and worried stare, and reached his hand out to gently grasp Ace’s shoulder. Slowly, he tightened his grip on it, and it was then that he realized that not only was he shaking, but his face was… wet?

“Eric? _ Eric,” _ Ace gasped as Eric’s legs gave out beneath him, catching the smaller man with ease as he collapsed and carefully lowered him to the floor, “Eric what’s- what’s wrong? Is he in your head again? Fuck Eric, _ Foxy-” _

“I- I-” Eric shuddered as tears spilled over from his eyes, “N- no one’s ever-”

“No one’s ever what? Eric, baby-” Eric looked up to see Ace’s eyes wide in fear as he cradles Eric in his arms.

“Fuck I’ve never- never-” Eric sputtered, body shaking as he struggled to breathe, “No one’s ever tried t- to- not like _ that and-” _

He watched as the gears started to turn in Ace’s head and the guitarist’s face changed from a look of worry to one of despair.

“H- has no one ever been that concerned for you? No one _ supported _ you?” Ace asked, voice almost small.

“I- I mean my family but-” Eric shook his head as he tried to get himself under control.

Suddenly, Eric was lifted off the floor and was placed on the bed. A second later, Ace was beside him and pulling him into him, arms wrapping securely around Eric and bringing him in close. Eric was surprised by the action, but when Ace’s hand slid to rest on the back of his head and gently led Eric to lay his head on his shoulder. 

“Ace-” Eric frowned.

“Shh,” Ace cut him off, “Just- just relax, yeah?”

“But-”

“Please?” Ace asked, voice so soft and gentle it tugged Eric’s heart strings and he couldn’t help but give in.

He sat motionless in Ace’s arms, tears still spilling from his eyes, but with the guitarist’s soft, caring coos of sweet nothings into Eric’s ear, the drummer focused fully on calming his breathing down. The constant, gentle whispers of Ace into his ear did _ wonders _to help Eric calm himself down, it was an unfamiliar sensation, but not an unwelcome one. His mind drifted as he thought back on his life, how he’d struggled to hide this side of himself from anyone not in his family, but even they didn’t fully understand. Ace… Ace was the first one that seemed to understand just how the dark thoughts plaguing his mind affected him. It was a surprise for sure, but one that found Eric nuzzling closer to the steady, warm embrace of Ace’s arms.

When Eric finally felt like he could breathe normally again, he sat up slowly, hands splayed on Ace’s chest as he pulled himself up to look him in the eyes.

“I- it’s gonna be okay… right?” He asked softly, watching Ace’s beautiful, chocolate brown eyes for any uncertainty.

“It will,” Ace smiled gently at him, eyes unwavering, and gripped one of Eric’s hands with his, “I promise.”

____________

The morning passed by quietly after Eric’s almost-panic-attack, and it went quickly as well. Ace had made some amazing French toast concoction for breakfast which surprised Eric seeing as Ace was… well Ace. The sweet breakfast had been absolutely delicious, much to Eric’s delight, and the meal had ended with a little whipped cream fight that Eric had instigated by swiping a dollop from his plate onto Ace’s nose. The pair wound up covered in whipped cream and the remnants of the syrup which prompted Ace to suggest showering. Eric wholeheartedly agreed, but when they’d once again gone up to the second floor, Eric hesitated.

“What’s up?” Ace asked, poking his head out the door of his bedroom.

“Uh… where should I shower?” Eric blushed and looked away in embarrassment.

“I mean, you’re more than welcome to join me,” Ace flashed him some finger guns and a smirk, “but, the guest room bathroom is down the hall.”

Eric flushed and followed the finger Ace pointed down the hall.

“Up to you though, not gonna force you to do anything you don’t wanna, y’know.” Ace’s warm smile sending butterflies coursing through his stomach.

“... Aw fuck it.” Eric sighed and followed Ace into the room then the bathroom.

He chuckled to himself as Ace gave out a giddy, gleeful laugh and started removing his clothing. Eric followed suit, dropping his things on the tiled floor, but when he looked to Ace, felt a tad self-conscious. Ace was tall and lanky, all sharp planes and angles, a little more on the unconventionally pretty side, but Eric thought he was gorgeous. However, next to the handsome guitar player, he felt… a little inadequate. He was shorter, on the stockier side, definitely… fuller than Ace was-

“Hey.” Ace interrupted his stream of consciousness and Eric looked up to see Ace right in front of him, wide smile plastered on his face, “Did you know that you’re super cute?”

Eric gasped as suddenly Ace laid a quick peck of a kiss to his lips.

_ “Ace-” _Eric whined, trying to pull back.

“No way, you’re doin’ that _ thing!” _Ace shook his head.

“What _ thing?” _Eric pouted.

“The thing where you get stuck up here,” Ace explained, tapping Eric’s forehead, “and start judging yourself.”

“How the _ fuck _do you know that?” Eric furrowed his brow in total confusion.

“Paul’s the same way.” Ace hummed, hand now ruffling Eric’s hair, “Comparing himself to others and having the ‘I’m not good enough’ anxiety. I’ve been around him so long I’ve just learned how to pick up on it.”

“Oh.” Eric frowned and looked down, shame flooding his system.

“Hey, hey,” Ace tilted his chin up to look him in the eyes, “You _ know _ somewhere in there that it’s alright and it’s not gonna make me _ not _ like you because it’s _ way _too fuckin’ late for that, Foxy!”

Some part of Eric felt calmed by Ace’s words, his cackle definitely helping with that, but still…

“What? You want me to write a sonnet about how cute I think you are?” Ace snickered, “Like, you’re short and soft and that makes you perfect for hugs and snuggles!”

Eric groaned at the comment about him being short, but the comment about being perfect for snuggles…

“Alright, the syrup is getting _ really _ uncomfortable now, c’mon, Foxy, shower time!” Ace singsonged and pulled Eric into the stream of steaming hot water.

Eric yelped in surprise, but the warmth of the water felt really nice. He started to relax under the spray, but then he felt Ace’s hands work their way onto his shoulders and start to rub at them gently.

“Ace, what’re you doing?” Eric asked, not really minding the little shoulder massage, but was caught off guard by it.

“Just relax, pretty.” Ace whispered in his ear then stopped.

Eric frowned at the lack of pressure on his shoulders, but soon, there were hands on his scalp, working shampoo into his hair. Ace’s hands were gentle but his fingers were firm against his scalp, enough so that Eric found himself leaning into Ace, eyes sliding closed under the attention from the guitarist.

“Oh, we like that?” Ace giggled behind him, keeping up the wonderful pressure on Eric’s head.

“Mmhmm,” Eric groaned.

He typically wasn’t a huge fan of people touching his hair, but _ this _ felt much different than the usual tugging and pulling people wanted to do. Ace’s strong fingers from years of guitar playing worked deftly over his scalp and Eric couldn’t help but let out soft groans of appreciation and he could almost _ feel _Ace’s smile behind him. 

When Ace’s hands left Eric’s head, Eric whined in annoyance, wanting Ace to continue, only to be met with a giggle.

“Heh, you havin’ fun?” Ace pressed a kiss to Eric’s temple.

“Whaddaya mean?” Eric pursed his lips before looking to Ace then following the guitarist’s gaze down, “Oh.”

Eric bit his lip as he saw he’d stiffened to a semi, eyes widening as it twitched because Ace had pressed himself up against his back.

“So _ cute!” _Ace giggled, nuzzling into Eric’s neck.

“Ah shit uh…” Eric stammered our, face heating up in embarrassment.

“Nah, don’t even think about apologizing, Foxy!” Ace cackled, “Aww, you’re so cute!”

Eric couldn’t believe that just a fucking scalp massage had gotten him hard. The press of Ace into his back certainly _ wasn’t _ helping the situation, but Eric couldn’t deny that he really was enjoying the attention from the taller man. Of course, that was when he realized that Ace was _ also _hard judging by what he felt against his lower back.

“Uh, Ace?” Eric whimpered softly, surprised by how unsteady his voice was.

“Yeah, Foxy?” Ace groaned huskily in his ear, a hand sneaking around Eric’s midsection.

“I d- definitely would be happy to do this later, but you’re still covered in syrup.” Eric told him shyly.

“Ooh, does my Foxy wanna play?” Ace asked excitedly.

“Maybe later,” Eric sighed with a little headshake, “but here, can I uh… can I help you clean up?”

“I still gotta get conditioner in your hair!” Ace whined.

“Acey,” Eric rolled his eyes and turned to face him, reaching up to kiss him softly, “Please?”

“Aw, ok, just for you, Eric.” Ace smiled, “Want me to sit down?”

“Are you making short jokes about me again?” Eric huffed.

“It may be easier for you if I’m a bit lower.” Ace shrugged.

“.. Fine.” Eric rolled his eyes, grabbing the bottle of shampoo as Ace sat himself on the shower floor.

Eric quickly got to work lathering the sudsy substance into Ace’s short hair and found himself wishing that Paul hadn’t made them all get haircuts. Ace’s hair looked nice as is, but long hair was very handsome on the guitarist.

“I can feel you thinking.” Ace chuckled as he leaned into Eric’s hands.

“Mmhmm, was just thinking about how much I liked your long hair.” Eric mused.

“Oh? You liked it long?” Ace asked.

“Yeah, but the short cut is cute too.” Eric laughed, “You’re just… very handsome I guess.”

“You guess?” Ace feigned offense before descending into a laughing fit, “Such a cute Foxy!”

“Fuck off.” Eric shook his head in amusement as he finished washing Ace’s hair. 

He helped Ace rinse the suds out of his hair before getting the conditioner into Ace’s locks before he could protest again. Of course, it didn’t take very long, and while the detangler was setting in Ace’s hair, Ace returned the favor. After washing their hair once more, Eric started cleaning off the rest of his body, but as he was really getting into it, Ace’s hand gently grabbed his hand.

“May I?” Ace asked, eyes shining and wide.

“Erm… I guess?” Eric gave a shrug and let Ace take over.

Ace’s hands now worked over his back carefully, digging into the knots that had formed over the past few months and massaged them out as the soap cleansed his body. The fingers that skated across his back and pressed with just the right amount of pressure into Eric were strong, firm, and talented. While Eric’s hands were rough from years of drum playing, Ace’s were toughened differently. Calluses were focused more on his fingertips than his palms, which were soft against Eric’s body. As Ace continued to lather soap onto him, Eric found his mind wandering, wondering how those hands would feel holding his, brushing against him as they held one another, how they would feel _ around _him in the throes of passion-

Eric snapped himself out of his thoughts the second the idea of Ace’s hands stroking him off popped into his mind, but he could hear Ace laughing behind him already.

“I- I uh-” Eric stammered, pulling away as his cock twitched.

“Don’t get so _ shy, _ Foxy,” Ace purred, his lips brushing against Eric’s ear, “if it _ feels _good-”

“I j- just don’t want this to b- be just a fling,” Eric shuddered as Ace’s hands held fast to his shoulders.

“Neither do I,” Ace sighed softly, his breath tickling Eric’s sensitive skin, “I told you I’d wait, I still will, but fuck, you have _ no idea _how bad I wanna touch you.”

“A- Ace,” Eric bit his lip, leaning back into Ace’s touch more than he had before.

“I know we just cleaned off, but don'tcha wanna get _ dirty _again?” Ace cackled with glee.

“That’s a terrible pickup line,” Eric snorted.

“Mmm, I know,” Ace groaned, hands sliding to Eric’s waist and squeezing.

“... Fuck it.” Eric growled and, grabbing Ace’s wrist, dragged the slender man out of the shower and towards the bedroom.

The pair were still sopping wet, but Eric paid it no mind as the only thing he was focused on was having Ace’s hands all over him and getting his all over Ace. As he pulled Ace along with him, he heard Ace make a surprised, almost squeaking sound. Eric could barely suppress a giggle at that little noise, but not a second later, he found himself being practically _ thrown _on his back to the bed and Ace on top of him.

“So _ cute!” _Ace giggled above him, grinning from ear to ear.

“I’m starting to think that’s your favorite word.” Eric rolled his eyes, but was unable to hide the blush rising from his neck.

“To describe you? Of course!” Ace cackled before claiming Eric’s lips again, his hands tightly gripping his shoulders.

Eric hummed contently into the kiss. Ace’s lips were so damn soft, it was _ ridiculous, _ and the fact that he knew just how to get Eric all panting and breathless within a few moments was almost embarrassing seeing as Eric was the _ older _ of the pair. By default, Eric should’ve had much more experience in this department, but instead the one who’d… been around the block a few times… a couple of times… many, _ many _times, was Ace. He was pulled from his thoughts suddenly when Ace nipped at his lower lip gently, then sat up a bit with a playful smirk.

“You know, for someone who’s basically a twig, you’re pretty damn strong.” Eric mused.

“You mean these guns?” Ace flexed for him before cracking up completely.

Eric couldn’t help but laugh along with him. Ace really was a character, engaging in random shenanigans and having a natural knack for humor… the goofy guitarist’s antics were priceless. The jokes and banter directed at Eric however, felt a little different than the silliness he engaged in while around other people. _ He _got to see this side of Ace and he didn’t care who else had seen it, what mattered was that it was directed towards him, and that thought made Eric feel all warm and jittery and fuzzy inside.

“Foxy~” Ace cooed, “You’re spacin’ out on me!”

“Wha- oh, sorry,” Eric flushed, looking away, “I was just thinking about how lucky I am.”

“How lucky you are? You aren’t the only lucky one!” Ace explained, jamming a thumb to point towards himself, “I am too!”

“Oh?” Eric teased, “Do enlighten me?”

“I have the _ cutest _ little fox _ ever!” _Ace told him matter-of-factly, accentuating the words with a kiss to Eric’s forehead, “And you can’t change my mind!”

_ “Ace!” _Eric whined in protest, trying to squirm from the grip Ace had him in, but of course the string bean of a man Ace was held him down without any visible sense of effort.

“Whaaaaat?” Ace whined back, “‘M just teasin’ ya, Eric!”

“Why’ve you gotta keep callin’ me cute!” Eric pouted, mostly for show seeing as he really didn’t mind being called cute.

“Because you are?” Ace shrugged, “Though, if you _ want _more descriptors we’ve got adorable, soft, huggable, lovely, sweet, charming-”

Eric whined again, blushing furiously at the over-the-top compliments.

“Alright, alright!” Ace rolled his eyes, “Hmmm, well, you’re definitely handsome, but I’d definitely lean more towards something like, y’know, vol… uh… volup-somethin’?”

_ “Voluptuous?” _Eric squaked in disbelief.

“Yeah! That one!”

“Ace, no-”

“Why? You’ve got all those nice curves and shit!” Ace pointed out, “I mean _ fuck, _ have you _ seen _your thighs lately? ‘Cause uh-”

“Ace, oh my god-” Eric covered his face with his hands, totally mortified at Ace’s new stream of comments.

“Yeah so, you’re voluptuous, _ strong, _hot isn’t enough to describe you though, definitely gonna have to go with sexy-”

“Stoooooop!” Eric groned.

“Excuse you, I am busy _ showering _ my boyfriend with compliments on how damn attractive he is!” Ace slapped a hand over his heart in mock offense, “Now, if you’ll _ excuse me, _I’m going to motorboat said boyfriend-”

_ “Ace, do not-!” _Eric yelped, but Ace’s head was already buried in his chest and he was giggling profusely, as he squeezed at Eric’s pecs, “Ace, I do hate to break it to you, but this- this doesn’t really work without tits-”

“Nah, this seems fine!” Ace countered back, “Besides, these _ totally _count! All nice and soft and perfect for squishing, a nice damn rack if I do say so myself!”

“Fuck you,” Eric shot back.

“We’re gettin’ there.” Ace cackled back before licking a long, wet stripe up the space between Eric’s pecs then diving back down, he got his mouth around one of Eric’s nipples and began to run circles around it with his tongue.

Eric tensed a bit at the feeling, not having experienced this kind of nipple play before, but he got used to it quickly. Every few circles, Ace would flick his tongue against the sensitive bud, drawing soft pants and whines from his partner while his other hand was busy fondling the other half of Eric’s chest. Eric bit his lip, trying to retain some semblance of control as Ace’s tongue began swirling a little faster, his hand pinching at the other nipple, and-

“Fuck!” Eric cried as Ace’s lips closed around him and started to suck.

He could feel Ace’s grin around him as he continued his work, obviously getting a kick out of Eric’s vocalizations and the little, jerky movements of his hips.

Before long, Eric was bucking his hips up against Ace, hands fisted in the guitarist’s dark hair. If this was how his mouth felt just around his fucking _ chest- _Eric had to stop that train of thought, fearing it would send him over the edge way too fast.

“A- Acey,” Eric whimpered, rutting up against Ace to the best of his ability, almost surprised by the amount of purchase said man’s hair was giving him.

“Wazzat?” Ace barely unlocked his lips from their spot, but his hooded eyes were focused solely on Eric’s face.

“I- if you keep this up I- I’m gonna-” Eric stammered out, knowing that Ace could feel his hardness and the dribbles of precome that came with it against his leg.

“You wanna come?” Ace teased.

“I mean _ yes, _ but not _ now.” _Eric huffed, but it quickly turned into a breathless moan when Ace reached a hand down and gently squeezed Eric’s cock.

“Mm, so fuckin’ hard for me,” Ace sighed.

When Ace raised his head to pepper a hint of teeth across his neck, Eric sucked in a sudden gasp that twisted into a wavering groan. His fingers twitched in the guitarist’s hair, like he wanted to do more, _ touch _ more, but there was a hesitation behind it. With Ace, he knew he had no need to be nervous, yet here he was, shaking, _ quivering, _in his partner’s arms. Ace seemed to pick up on Eric’s anxiousness and began softly cooing words of praise to the drummer.

“Just relax, Foxy… Lemme take care of you.”

The subtle command elicited a soft whimper from Eric’s trembling lips.

Ace brought his lips back to his throat and continued to suck deep purple into his skin. Eric’s hands continued to pull and twitch in the guitarist’s hair, his whole body _ trembling _ with the need to press his touch into Ace’s flesh. The guitarist smiled and took his wrists and placed them on his hips with an encouraging pat. Stifling a moan, Eric simply flushed, his lips parted around desperate pants- feeling more and more wrecked with each passing moment.

“Touch me,” Ace whispered, delivering a meaningful glance to Eric. Serious and heated all at once, and it was enough to make Eric bite down hard on his lip. “I want you to touch me, Eric.”

“P- Please… Ace…!” Eric looked at him for a few moments, then tugged him down for a frenzied kiss. He was touching him like he was the only thing he needed, the only one in the entire universe that mattered to him. His skin was aflame where it came into contact with Ace’s, and he was broken and desperate to feel as much of him as possible.

His lips sought out Ace’s with a passion that had the Spaceman’s toes curling against the sheets. A dance of tongues and lips stirred that burning arousal in both of their cores, and Eric pressed himself against Ace as if he might vanish any moment.

Suddenly, the heat was becoming too much- Eric needed some kind of friction. He shifted his hips to press against Ace’s, not quite moving yet, but just asserting his place. Ace’s groan turned into a gasp that had every ounce of blood in Eric’s body flying south.

When Ace did roll his pelvis against his, the sound that came from Eric’s lips could have put a heavenly chorus to shame. It was absolutely beautiful, the way the unearthly pleasure rang out on his voice. It captured his partner’s complete focus on his hardness, and it ensured him that Ace would focus his full efforts right there. Wanting to muffle his wanton moans, Eric shot forward with a want- a need for Ace to swallow his gasps. Happily obliging, Ace pressed his tongue into Eric’s mouth to taste his skin and lap up any and all sounds of arousal.

Eric dragged his nails down his back, sending sparks of wonderful pain through Ace’s system. It didn’t distract him from his mission, though. Ace set an even pace, grinding his hips against his with precise motions, making sure to drag out every single whine and fevered moan from between those gorgeous lips. Ace left Eric’s lips to press biting kisses along his throat. His skin there was already covered in an array of purple hickies. _ His… _ Eric thought, and the very idea was far, far hotter than it should have been. It left him with an incredible heat stirring in his belly, not enough to get him off, but it was all starting to pool in the right direction.

Eric’s hands slid over Ace’s rear and clamped down, rolling his hips against his in an increasingly frenzied rhythm. He let out a low whine of desire, the sound belied by a grunt of effort as he encouraged Ace to dry hump him into oblivion.

“I- I... Mmhm… A- Ace…! ...can’t- I _ can’t-!” _ he cried out.

Ace giggled into his neck. “Whatcha need, Foxy? C’mon~ You can tell me~”

Eric’s lips opened as if to speak, but all that came out was a guttural moan. His teeth dug so hard into his lower lip that he swore that he could’ve drawn blood. His fingers tightened against Ace’s flesh with a grip almost more painful than arousing, hips working frantically against his, his breath escaping in short grunts. Suddenly, he tossed his head back and stilled, letting out a reedy, high-pitched whine as he finally reached his peak.

An unexpected quiet descended upon the room, underpinned by Eric’s slowly softening pants. He released his reddened lip, and the intensity in his features slowly relaxed as he came down.

The serene quiet was, naturally, broken by Ace snorting. “Eric, did you just-”

“A- Ace…” Eric tried to turn away, tried to hide himself. Ace wouldn’t let him. He froze when he felt a gentle hand on his cheek.

“Eric?” he murmured softly. “You good?”

Shame came and faded, then calmness and pleasure took back over his senses. Some shame still lingered, though, because even when he finally calmed down, he clasped his hand over his face and let out a muffled groan of embarrassment. “Fuuuuuuck… I can’t believe I did that.”

“It’s okay. You couldn’t help it.”

Eric rolled over and buried his face in the mattress. “I’m so, so, so sorry,” he moaned.

“Aww, Eric, it’s fine. It happens to everyone,” Ace told him, giving his shoulder a gentle pat. “But honestly, it was soooo fuckin’ hot watching you cum like that. Don’t have any shame about anything that just happened, Foxy.”

Eric turned his head just enough to peek an eyelid open and looked at him.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” Ace shuffled closer to him and ran a hand through his mussed hair. Eric let out a contented sigh. “And fuck me, it was so hot watching it all run down your thighs~ Your sexy, curvy, luxerious, creamy--”

“Ace,” Eric squeaked, cocking an eyebrow at the hands now pawing at his legs.

“Eric… Lemme cum on your thighs.”

A vicious heat shot straight through Eric’s gut at his words and the affectionate expression accompanying them. Ace was so sweet that he was going to give him cavities, Eric swore.

“You… You wanna… What?” he asked softly.

Ace nodded so fast that Eric was surprised his head didn’t pop off.

“Alright… Okay,”

Eric twitched slightly as he felt fingers trail across his abdomen, inching teasingly close to the base of his shaft before flitting away, drifting to his thighs instead. Without warning, Ace rolled Eric over onto his stomach and moved to straddle him from atop. Eric could only moan when he felt Ace palming his ass, squeezing lightly and spreading him. He did inhale sharply when Ace pressed his cock against the back of his legs, though.

“Your thighs, Eric,” Ace groaned, “They’re- Ooohh!” 

He rubbed his cock against Eric’s ass for a moment, then pushed between his thighs. Eric wriggled at the strange sensation; it was on the edge of being off-putting, too close and too far from fucking. It was Ace who was doing it to him, though, so it quickly went from questionable affection to- _ oh, _ somehow that was _ worlds _better.

Ace fucked his thighs with his hands tight on his waist, thrusting into the clench of his legs. Eric clutched onto the bedsheets, groaning as Ace’s cock nudged against his, and dropped his head to pant helplessly. Ace’s breathing became harsher, his thrusts faster, and then he was coming hot against his thighs, gasping, “_ Eriiiic~ _”

Neither of them moved for a long moment, then Eric groaned and said, “We’re… we’re gonna need to shower… again.” 

Ace nodded, then collapsed against the bed, landing beside his partner with a faint _ oof. _

“Nnngh…” Ace moaned, apparently in agreement.

Eric smiled at him and moved to stroke his fingers along the back of Ace’s hands and arms, then turned to kiss his neck. Ace shivered.

“Wanna share the shower…?” Ace asked, pushing himself up.

“We _ both _ know that’s what _ lead _to this.” Eric scoffed.

“Whaaaaat? No round two?” Ace whined causing Eric to roll his eyes.

“Does your talisman help you get it back up fast enough?”

“I dunno, seems like we’ve gotta run a science experiment to find out!” Ace’s hyena like cackle suddenly filled the room, and Eric couldn’t help but laugh along with.

______________________________________________________________________________

When the pair had _ finally _recovered from their… extraneous morning activities, Ace had taken Eric outside to show off the property to him. While Eric already knew the place was lush and vibrant, the backyard was even more beautiful than the front. There was a massive stone patio right off the backdoor, a crystal clear, blue pool, and-

“Are- are those _ targets?” _Eric asked, staring at some… slightly crispy, mannequin looking things that resided near the tree line.

“Those old things? Yup! I need them for when I haven’t used these guns for a while!” Ace giggled, his fists sparking with blue, crackling lightning that wove around his fists in intricate lattice lines.

“Holy shit,” Eric whispered breathlessly, taken aback by how stunning the lights emanating from Ace’s hands were.

“Wanna watch?” Ace’s eyes shone with excitement, the lightning beginning to hum and buzz as his smile grew.

“Show me!” Eric grinned back, scampering to the side while Ace took a deep breath.

“Stand back.” Ace told him, voice dropping considerably.

Eric did as he was instructed to, eyes fixed unwaveringly on Ace as a bright light encompassed the guitarist’s form. A mix of lightning bolts and strange, cosmic energy swirled around Ace, then suddenly exploded into a flurry of light and sparkles akin to a firework. As the air cleared, Eric’s jaw dropped as _ hovering _in front of him, was Ace, now adorned in his Dynasty costume, makeup included, surrounded by a soft, blue light, and smiling brightly at Eric, silver-star adorned eyes crinkling with joy.

“Ace… Ace… holy _ fuck…” _Eric gasped, unable to find words to convey how absolutely awesome and beautiful the display was.

“And that’s just the costume change!” Ace cackled wildly before flying up higher and diving and swooping through the air with gleeful whoops.

Eric stared in starstruck awe as he watched Ace do lops and banks and barrel rolls, all while charging up his hands and firing off lightning bolts at the targets with frightening accuracy. All Eric could do was watch as Ace zipped around the air, silver cape billowing behind him majestically, but suddenly Ace stopped and hovered down to Eric.

“Wanna go for a ride?” Ace asked giddily.

“A- a what now?” Eric stared at Ace nervously.

“I can be the Superman to your Lois Lane!” Ace’s shrill laugh bounced and echoed all around them and before Eric could reply, he was scooped up into Ace’s arms.

“Ace!” Eric squeaked as suddenly, they were higher up than the roof.

“That’s my name!” Ace teased back, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Eric’s cheek, “I’m- I’m so happy I can share this with you.”

“I- _ oh Acey~” _Eric cooed softly, not having expected the sudden admission from the usually not-so-serious man, and pressed a hand to Ace’s cheek, gently rubbing his thumb against the soft skin there.

“I’ve never felt like this about anyone before, Eric.” Ace whispered, “I know this is fast and sudden but I… I _ really _care about you, Eric.”

“I care about you too.” Eric smiled warmly.

“Eric… my Foxy~” Ace chuckled, his expression gentle in a way that made butterflies fizz in his stomach.

_ “My _Space Ace.” Eric hummed back, but then he stopped for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter.

“Uh… You good?” Ace asked, obviously worried.

“I- I just realized,” Eric was in tears he was laughing so hard, “it’s so- _ so _ stupid but fuckin’- _ both _ our names are _ Paul.” _

“... Oh my god if we got like, married, we’d be-” Ace’s eyes widened in excitement.

_ “Paul and Paul Frehley-Caravello.” _ Eric howled with laughter and Ace had to set them back down on the ground because now _ he _was losing his shit completely, “Or Caravello-Frehley, y’know wh- whichever-!”

The two were practically rolling on the ground, laughing their asses off, unable to contain the shrill squawks and snorts they were making. When they finally managed to calm down, the pair found themselves laying in the grass, staring up as the sun slowly began to set in the sky.

“How’d the day go by so fast?” Eric asked as the sky began changing colors, just like how watercolors seeped into one another on a canvas.

“Because you had fun,” Ace sighed happily.

A calm, quietness came over the two, the only sounds were the wind blowing through the leaves of the trees, and the soft chirping of crickets coming out of their daytime slumber. Above them, the deep, fiery orange of the sky was taken over by deep blues and then the dark sky became dotted with stars.

“What’s space like?” Eric asked curiously as he spotted Orion and his belt, one of the few constellations he could spot in the sky.  
“Cold,” Ace breathed, “but it’s _ warm _at the same time. My favorite parts are the stars, there are so many different colors and intensities, but the planets come in every shape, size, and color too.”

“The Spaceman from Jendell, right? That’s the story you used to tell?” Eric snorted.

“Sure is… of course, it is only _ half the _truth.” Ace shrugged.

“... Uh, it just sounded like you said something about being an alien was _ true?” _Eric jumped up and stared at Ace in disbelief.

“I mean, yeah, mom’s from Jendell, I was raised here though.” Ace explained casually.

“You’re an _ alien?” _Eric rolled over to look Ace in the eye.

“Yeah, I don’t go around spouting lies out my ass _ all _the time.” Ace chuckled, but before the conversation could continue, Ace shot up and his eyes flashed blue.

“Uh… Ace?” Eric frowned.

“Come with me.” Ace huffed, voice beginning to echo as it did back in the ethereal plane that belonged to the guitarist.

Quickly, Ace pulled Eric through the house, rushing by the first floor, down the stairs to the basement, into the recording studio, and before Eric could ask what was happening, Ace knelt down and entered a complex pattern into a keypad, and a door opened in the wall.

“You have a secret passageway?” Eric gasped.

“Not the time, come on.” Ace frowned, getting Eric into the room and closing the door behind them.

“Ace, what’s going on?” Eric’s voice shook a bit, suddenly afraid after seeing the frightened look on Ace’s face.

“I felt… something wrong.” Ace shook his head then grabbed a telephone, punching in a number blisteringly fast, “Gene? You and Paul both there?”

“Yeah, we’re here.” Eric could clearly hear Gene’s voice through the speaker.

“I’m about to jump your way, be ready to come back immediately.” Ace explained.

“Uh, jump-?” Eric asked.

“Don’t move.” Ace interrupted him, “It won’t be more than a minute.”

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Ace was gone.

Eric stared dumbfounded at the place where Ace had just been, but there wasn’t even a little trace of him having been there. While he was frozen in shock at having been witness to- to _ that, _he saw that he was in a living room of sorts. It looked comfortable, a few overstuffed couches and chairs, but there were no windows. It took a little while, but when Eric noticed the reinforced walls, he realized that Ace’s house wasn’t just a house.

He was in a _ fortress. _

A loud, warping sound scared Eric out of his thoughts, and suddenly Ace, Paul, and Gene were all standing in front of him. Paul and Gene both looked battle ready, with their makeup, Gene in his spiked, protective armor, and Paul in a star patterned suit. A sharp scream of surprise escaped Eric as he fell backwards, but luckily, Ace was there to catch him in an instant.

“Is he-” Gene furrowed his brow.

“He’s fine.” Ace nodded, “But, we have… a problem.”

“Can someone _ please _ explain what’s going on?” Eric asked exasperatedly, “Because first, Ace drags me down here after a wonderful day, then you- you just _ disappeared, _and now you’re back with the others?”

“Teleportation.” Ace explained, “I don’t do it often, but this was an emergency.”

“Why is it- wait,” Eric stopped, “Emergency?”

“The Dark One is closing in.” Paul explained, star covered eye glowing a deep shade of purple, “He’ll be here shortly, we need to be ready.”

_ “What?” _ Eric yelped, “He’s- he’s _ here?” _

“Unfortunately,” Gene nodded, “He must’ve figured out how to track our energy signatures or- or _ something-” _

“He already knows where I live.” Ace huffed in annoyance then turned to Eric and gently grabbed his shoulders, “Eric, Foxy, you’ve gotta stay down here, alright? You… I _ can’t _see you get hurt, it’ll be safe down here.”

“Wh- Ace-?” Eric gasped, but was cut off by a firm yet chaste kiss from Ace.

“I’ll be back for you, promise.” Ace told him, weaving their hands together for a moment, then, as quickly as they had appeared, the trio of superpowered rock stars were gone.

Eric was left staring blankly into space, again, but this time, he was _ filled _ with dread. His gut was telling him that something was off, something was _ wrong, _and it wasn’t just because there was going to be a fight taking place above him.

When the ground began to shake, the force was enough to send Eric tumbling to the floor. He could _ hear _ the explosions above and everything was _ shaking _ violently. With a deep breath, Eric pushed himself up and off the ground, then staggered to the door Ace had opened before. Though the surface was smooth with no trace of a door having been there, Eric felt all over the wall to see if he could find the secret opening. As he searched, the ground kept shaking, the lights were flickering, and panic flooded Eric’s entire system. He was scared- no- _ terrified, _ but something was telling him, _ urging him, _to get up there.

When suddenly his hand sunk into the wall, Eric froze and stared, watching as a panel depressed into the smooth wall and the door opened. Without a second thought, Eric sprinted out of the room, through the studio, up the stairs, and scrambled to the back door. He shook in fear as he saw a giant shadow monster in the center of Ace’s once beautiful, now torn up backyard, and Ace, Gene, and Paul were firing off whatever they could at it.

Mind blank, Eric threw the door open and rushed outside, he _ had to do something. _ However, as he got onto the patio, he locked eyes with Ace and watched as the Spaceman’s face shifted from battle-hardened to an expression of pure horror.

_ “Eric!” _ He screeched, rocketing towards him with incredible speed, and knocked Eric to the ground, a bolt of shadow energy rushing just overhead as they tumbled to the ground, “Wh- Go! I told you- _ Fuck!” _

Eric was again shoved roughly out of the way as a gigantic foot stomped right next to him, separating him from Ace. 

“Ace?!” Eric called out, praying he hadn’t been injured as he shakily got to his knees.

_ “Run!” _Ace screamed, his voice shrill and desperate.

The next thing Eric knew, there were hands under his arms and he was lifted into the air. With a yelp, he began to struggle, trying to look up to see what had grabbed him, but stopped when he saw it was Paul.

“Get back to the bunker.” Paul commanded, eyes glowing purple, voice echoing like a chorus of singers, “Run and hide, do not come out until we come to get you.”

“No!” Eric shook his head, “Ace- Ace needs-”

“Ace needs you to be safe.” Paul scrunched his brow together, “Why aren’t you listenin-”

Paul was cut off as something struck his shoulder, and the pair went careening down towards the ground. Eric vaguely registered someone yelling right before he and Paul were both grabbed by giant, clawed feet. Upon further inspection, Eric realized the thing holding him and Paul was Gene. His eyes were alight with flame, jagged teeth bared menacingly, bat-like wings protruding from his back- he looked like- like _ a demon! _

He and Paul were deposited to the ground again none too gently, and Paul was up in the air again before Eric could say another word.

Dust, debris, and earth were beginning to cloud the area, and Eric found himself barely able to make out where exactly he was. He definitely wasn’t on the patio, not near the pool- Eric had no idea where he was. A whimper passed through his lips as a massive _ thud _shook the ground next to him, throwing him off his feet yet again. A little voice in Eric’s head told him to investigate, and he found himself sliding down into a crater. At the bottom, a weak blue light sputtered, flickering on and off and on and off. It took Eric until he reached the bottom to realize it was Ace and he screamed at the sight. 

The Spaceman was struggling to even sit up, eyes switching between their eerie blue glow and Ace’s usual brown eyes, and he was bleeding. Heavily.

“Ace? _ Ace?!” _Eric whimpered, falling to his knees at Ace’s side, trying to help him up and gagging as his hands were immediately soaked with the ruby red life force that seeped from Ace’s battered body.

“Get. Out. Of. Here.” Ace coughed out, blood staining his lips and running down from his mouth.

“You’re hurt!” Eric cried, trying to apply pressure to a large wound on Ace’s side, “Ace- please what’s-”

Then Eric was on the ground behind Ace, darkness swirling around them, and it took Eric a moment to realize Ace was now in front of him and-

_ “No!” _Eric wailed as his hearing came back.

Ace was- he was- the _ sound _ he was making was inhuman, a horrifying screech ripped from his very core as he used himself as a human shield to block a sea of dark energy from hitting Eric. He could only watch as his entire being was filled with absolute dread at the sight before him. He couldn’t even _ see _Ace, only hear his howls of pain as he tried desperately to reach the already injured Spaceman.

“Ace!” He called for his lover over and over again, but he knew Ace couldn’t hear him, couldn’t even register his presence anymore.

When finally it stopped, Eric froze in horror at what stood before his eyes.

Ace was standing before him, but his body was swaying, armor completely ripped off, silver cape laying at his feet, and-

_ Oh god. _

Eric could barely stop himself from expelling the bile rising in his stomach as Ace collapsed into his arms, barely managing to catch him. He was shaking, twitching really, eyes wide and unblinking, mouth moving wordlessly, electric currents, blue, black, purple, jumping all over his battered body, and the blood… There was blood everywhere, caked in his hair, over his face, on his chest- Eric didn’t even realize he’d been crying until he saw tear drops falling onto Ace’s face.

“A- Ace?” He whispered, shaking the man gently, trying to get a response.

But Ace kept twitching, moving mechanically, the dark splotches of coppery-smelling fluid becoming worse and worse… 

As Eric looked closer, he saw some of what he thought was blood wasn’t blood at all. Scorch marks full of the cruel, twisting darkness were spread all over his body, and half of Ace’s face… What he thought were splotches of blood, were the same, half of Ace’s face was burned down to the muscle, turned purple and navy and black as the dark energy seemed to coarse through him.

Eric screamed to high hell at the sight, overwhelmed by it. Never had he seen something like this- not since- _ not since- _

Suddenly, it was _ that night _ again. Smoke filled the air, people were screaming, he was fumbling through the dark, grabbing someone’s hands-

There were people screeching his name, begging for help, but his body was running on autopilot, he couldn’t carry anyone else, couldn’t get to anyone else. 

Fire, smoke, screaming-

People were being trampled as they raced for the exit, people were crying, the screams- _ those screams- _

The sight from outside, how he’d gotten out he’d never know, but from outside, the entire building-

Eric shuddered.

He couldn’t save anyone else.

He couldn’t save his band.

Couldn’t save his friends.

Inside the building he heard something he hadn’t before.

He knew that voice.

It was shrill, familiar.

_ “Eric!” _Ace yelled from inside the inferno.

Ace.

_ Ace. _

_ He had to save Ace. _

Something in Eric snapped and he ran back into the building, shocked to find it empty of everyone but Ace, body lying limp on the ground, burned heavily, the blood- the _ smell- _

The first thing that hit him was a wave of desperation, wailing as Ace’s body lay unmoving before him.

Then.

Then there was anger.

Rage.

Someone was going to _ pay. _

Eric’s mind was suddenly thrust back to reality, eyes glued to Ace’s twitching form, but there was something different now. He was seeing red, he was _ angry. _

That shadow beast did this.

The shadow beast did this to _ his _ Ace. 

_ His _ mate.

A roar tore from Eric’s throat and he lept up. The moment his feet touched the ground, something shot at him, an orange streak of light that hit his chest before he could move.

Then it happened.

His blood boiled beneath his skin, bones were cracking, rearranging, his eyes sharpened, stature grew, mind slowed.

_ Kill. Kill. Kill! _

He didn’t know where the others were, only that the shadow thing needed to go. It needed to be gone. It needed to die for hurting his Ace.

He bounded forward, legs propelling him faster than he’d ever gone before, and he dug his hands- _ claws _into the beast’s leg before ruthlessly clawing his way up the thing.

_ Blood! Blood! Blood! _

Black blood oozed from the places he dug claws into, but he paid it no mind, he had to climb, get further up, make it _ pay! Pay! Pay! _

The thing was trying to shake him off, rip him off, but he was too fast, too swift. By the time he got to the creature’s neck, the thing was already off balance. He couldn’t hear anything except for the blood rushing in his ears as he reached the neck and began clawing with all his might. The thing was shaking, struggling, but Eric held firm as it lost its balance and went down.

_ Claw! Slash! Pay! Blood! Kill! _

The thundering crash as the thing hit the ground hurt Eric’s ears, but he paid it no mind, instead continuing his assault on the beast. He clawed and ripped and slashed and bit, tearing at whatever he could reach. The thing was howling in pain, but Eric didn’t care! It needed to _ die, die, die! _

Suddenly, the thing began to shrink, the body rumbling and bubbling until it was human sized again, but Eric didn’t let up, ripping the being apart, blood splattering everywhere, it had stopped moving, stopped making noise.

“Eric!” Someone shouted, but Eric ignored it, tearing into the body below him, black blood staining him as he clawed, slashed, tore!

He roared in triumph as his hand ripped inside the thing and grabbed whatever he could wrap his claws around and _ yanked. _

“Oh my god.” Someone gasped behind him as he held the evil thing’s heart in his hand, crushing it and laughing as the black ooze splattered everywhere.

“Eric? Eric, you in there?” He turned and saw the purple one approaching him slowly, hands held up.

He meant no harm, but this was _ his _ kill, _ his _victory, and so he growled, deep rumbling sound that made the purple man freeze.

“Eric, it’s me.” he murmured softly, “It’s Paul.”

“Paaaaaul?” Eric tested the name on his tongue, it was familiar, safe even.

Friend? Friend.

Eric slowly rose up on his haunches, cocking his head as he sniffed at the poofy haired man.

“Paul.” He determined with a nod of his head.

“This… this isn’t like anything Peter ever did.” Eric turned to see the winged creature standing over his kill.

_ “Mine!” _Eric snarled.

“Yeah, I know, uh… good job?” The red-eyed man stood, he looked displeased.

“... Gene.” Eric nodded, remembering the winged man’s name.

“Yeah, I’m Gene.” Gene smiled.

“Paul. Gene.” Eric nodded again, bouncing on his feet before freezing in place, _ “Ace!” _

And he was off, back to the crater where Ace had been. It took no time at all to reach the edge of the forest, but Eric skidded to a halt and gazed curiously down at the crater. There was a man in a cloak standing over Ace, his hands glowing a deep gold as he waved them over Ace’s form. Paul and Gene were there a moment later, and he heard Paul sigh in relief.

“Who?” Eric grunted out, not knowing what the man was doing.

“A friend,” Paul explained, “He’ll get Ace fixed up in no time.”

“I didn’t think he’d be here this fast.” Gene thought aloud, but Eric paid it no mind, sliding down to check on Ace.

“He’ll be alright,” a deep voice came from the cloaked figure as he laid his hands on Ace’s chest, the Spaceman’s whole body glowing softly, and Eric gasped as he saw the wounds on him beginning to close, “it’ll just take time. Is this your new one?”

“Yeah, that’s uh… that’s Eric… I think.” Paul explained with a shrug.

“You think?” Eric huffed in annoyance, but stopped when he felt something swishing behind him.

Turning his head to figure it out, he saw a bushy orange tail tipped with black fur. Quickly he inspected his body to find it was _ covered _in orange and black and white fur, his feet were gigantic paws with massive claws and his hands had black fur with claws.

“Paul!” He yelped in fear, not understanding what was happening.

There was black ooze on him and _ oh god did he kill someone?! _

“What did _ I do?!” _ Eric wailed as he tripped over his feet- er- paws.

“A lot.” Gene grumbled.

“Shut up,” Paul rolled his eyes at Gene, “Eric, it’s alright, a little surprising but-”

Eric suddenly felt woozy, frowning as Paul and Gene both began to double and- ?

“Ace?” He whimpered before everything went black.

___________________________________________

Eric awoke to birdsong and an ear splitting headache. He groaned as he shifted around in bed, joints cracking, muscles more sore than he’d ever felt. It took a moment for him to sit up, but as he did, the events from the night prior flooded his brain and sent him tumbling out of bed.

“Shit.” He grit out, holding his head in his hands as he rocked back and forth, trying to get the memory dumpage to stop, but when the image of Ace’s bloodied form hit his mind he jumped up and looked at the bed.

Ace wasn’t there.

Eric immediately ran out the door and began searching the upper floor, not finding Ace, then almost leaping down the stairs.

He hurt _ so bad _ but he had to find Ace. He _ had _to!

He skidded to a halt in the kitchen where Gene and Paul were having coffee, there was a man Eric didn’t know reading the newspaper and-

_ “Ace!” _Eric cried as he saw Ace’s half bandaged face across the room and practically tackled him in a hug.

“H- hi Foxy~” Ace cooed softly, voice scratchy and weak, but there.

“I did tell him he’d be fine didn’t I?” The man whose voice Eric didn’t recognize wafted softly through the air.

“To be fair Vin, he’s never met you.” Ace laughed, but fell into a coughing fit quickly after.

Eric frowned and held Ace’s face gently in his hands, staring into his uncovered eye and stroking the uncovered cheek.

“I thought you were _ dead.” _ Eric whimpered, feeling tears begin to sting at his eyes.

“Yeah, I know,” Ace looked down sadly, “not being able to tell you I’d be alright… that wasn’t fun. We’re lucky to have Paulie since he called for Vin to head our way and-”

“Is this Vin?” Eric asked, pointing to the man reading the paper, struggling to keep his voice steady.

“Hi,” He waved his hand with a small smile, “Vinnie, nice to meet you.”

“Hi… where’d he come from?” Eric furrowed his brow in confusion after wiping the tears from his eyes.

“Had to teleport from the sanctum, nothing major,” Vinnie shrugged, “The High Priestess would like to see you all soon though, especially since there’s a fourth again.”

“... _ Oh.” _Eric suddenly remembered what had happened after he’d seen Ace the night before.

He’d flown into a rage and he’d- he’d-

“Eric,” Paul stopped him, “don’t freak out, okay? You… well, he wasn’t _ really _a man, but-”

“I _ killed _someone!” Eric shrieked.

“Actually,” Vinnie cut in, “You killed a soulless drone, the Dark One _ was _inhabiting its body until you ripped it to shreds. It was never actually alive.”

“B- but-” Eric stuttered.

“Eric.” Ace hummed softly and Eric immediately turned to face him again, “It’s alright, you’re safe, I’m healing, no one else was hurt.”

“The- the orange light…” Eric shook his head before looking down to see a necklace with a fox pendant on it, “Is… is this a talisman?”

“Yeah,” Ace nodded, gently brushing it with a finger, “It’s not Peter’s though, it’s… new? Or just different, I can’t tell, but none of us have seen it before.”

“Well, to be fair, the texts do speak of others.” Vinnie pointed out, “I mean, my mother did wield the sixth for a while.”

“We aren’t even sure if that Ankh still exists.” Gene sighed.

“Six?” Eric asked.

“It’s a long story for another time.” Paul interjected before anyone else could speak up, “Vinnie, Gene, could you two _ please _come help me clean up the property and leave these two be?”

“I-” Vinnie pouted, but shook his head, “Fine. Demon?”

“Coming.” Gene huffed and they all went out the back door.

Eric met Ace’s gaze again and pulled the Spaceman into a tight embrace.

“I’m so happy you’re okay.” Eric sniffled, burying his face in Ace’s neck.

“I’m happy _ you’re _okay.” Ace chuckled softly, “Warn me before you try any heroics next time though, got it?”

“I didn’t think you’d actually do something like that-” Eric stammered.

“Eric.” Ace leveled him with a serious gaze, “I told you, I can and _ will _do everything in my power to keep you safe, including being a shield if need be.”

“But you almost-!” Eric protested.

“It’ll take much more than some dark fire to kill me.” Ace explained, “Trust me, I’ve been hurt _ way _ worse before.”

Eric frowned but pushed his worries aside and pressed a soft kiss to Ace’s lips,

“Next time, you should warn _ me _before being a hero next time.”

“Well you see, it’s kinda my job-” Ace smirked.

“Fuck you.” Eric rolled his eyes.

“Yeah whatever, you’re stuck with me.” A shrill cackle escaped Ace and Eric smiled, everything would be alright.

__________________________________________________________________________


End file.
